half-length

[haf-lengkth, -length, -lenth, hahf-]

noun

something that is only half a full length or height, especially a portrait that shows only the upper half of the body, including the hands.

adjective

of half the complete length or height.

Origin of half-length

First recorded in 1690–1700

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for half-length

Historical Examples of half-length

He had cut the fuse to half-length, and he had not long to wait.
The White Mice
Richard Harding Davis
The two men regarded each other across the half-length of the room.
The Sleuth of St. James's Square
Melville Davisson Post
The girls wore long skirts and the boy had half-length pants.
The Narrow House
Evelyn Scott
She was then painting his picture, a half-length, of which she also made an etching.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 6
Various
The second was also a half-length, and belonged to his son Carl Philip Emanuel.
Bach
Charles Francis Abdy Williams

British Dictionary definitions for half-length

half-length

adjective

(of a portrait) showing only the body from the waist up and including the hands

of half the entire or original length

noun

a half-length portrait

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012