half pay
Americannoun
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half one's regular pay.
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a reduced amount paid to a British army or navy officer when not in actual service or after retirement.
Etymology
Origin of half pay
First recorded in 1655–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Just over half pay the full sticker price, which can be over $100,000 at elite four-year institutions.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Teachers get four weeks at full pay, followed by two weeks at 90% of pay, followed by 12 weeks of half pay topped up with the statutory maternity pay.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2024
At the casino, she pushed for new mothers to get full salary for maternity leave instead of half pay.
From Reuters ● Jan. 6, 2022
They survived the pandemic — Bilal was on half pay for a while, but the government made up the other half.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2021
Nevertheless, working for half pay must have disheartened her.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
