halftime

or half-time

[haf-tahym, hahf-]

noun

the period indicating completion of half the time allowed for an activity, as for a football or basketball game or an examination.
Sports. the intermission or rest period between the two halves of a football, basketball, or other game, during which spectators are often entertained by baton twirling, marching bands, or the like.

adjective

pertaining to or taking place during a halftime: The football fans were treated to a halftime exhibition by the marching band.

Origin of halftime

First recorded in 1870–75; half + time

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-time

Contemporary Examples of half-time

For the half-time show, a cheerleader and her doppelgängers perform some hypnotic, pom-pom routines (see 1:11).
Austin Mahone, Grouplove & More Best Music Videos of the Week (VIDEO)
Jean Trinh
June 15, 2013

Historical Examples of half-time

When I had finished, I was as hot and dirty as if it were half-time at a football match.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
The complete movement being in strict time and "4-and" for half-time.
The Art of Stage Dancing
Ned Wayburn
In this way only twenty-two points were scored after half-time.
The White Feather
P. G. Wodehouse
We note the evil in its worst form under the “half-time” system.
Boy Labour and Apprenticeship
Reginald Arthur Bray
There are certain other advantages which the half-time system can claim.
Boy Labour and Apprenticeship
Reginald Arthur Bray

British Dictionary definitions for half-time

half-time

noun

sport
1. a rest period between the two halves of a game
2. (as modifier)the half-time score

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

Word Origin and History for half-time

also halftime, half time, indicating "half of the time," 1640s, from half + time. Tempo sense is by 1880. In football, from 1867.