halfpenny

American  

[hay-puh-nee, hayp-nee] / ˈheɪ pə ni, ˈheɪp ni /

noun

• halfpennies,
  plural
• halfpence
  plural

1. a bronze coin of the United Kingdom, equal to half a penny: use phased out in 1984.

2. the sum of half a penny.

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adjective

1. of the price or value of a halfpenny.

2. of little value; worthless.

   a halfpenny matter.

3. British Informal. (of newspapers) sensational, especially morbidly or offensively so.

halfpenny British  

/ ˈhɑːfˌpɛnɪ, ˈheɪpnɪ /

noun

1. Also called: half. a small British coin worth half a new penny, withdrawn from circulation in 1985

2. an old British coin worth half an old penny

3. the sum represented by half a penny

4. something of negligible value

5. (modifier) having the value or price of a halfpenny

6. (modifier) of negligible value

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• halfpence
  plural
• halfpennies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of halfpenny

First recorded in 1225–75, halfpenny is from the Middle English word halfpeny, halpeny. See half, penny

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

halfpenny halfpence halfpennies

“Wherever there is a halfpenny sheet of paper, a pen and a few drops of ink, there are the materials for a petition,” wrote one Chartist.

From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2022

To mark the start of repairs, English Heritage has invited a man to replace a halfpenny he placed under one of the stones in the 1950s when he was a boy.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2021

It is postmarked Belfast, where the Titanic was built, and has a canceled halfpenny stamp.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2021

‘Pick ’em out cheap here! three pair for a halfpenny, bootlaces.’

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2017

“Sixpence and four pennies—that’s tenpence, and a halfpenny and a threepenny-bit,” said Jane, counting up quickly.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

Zoo Timeby Howard Jacobson You take the kicks and the halfpence, to borrow a phrase from Conrad.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 5, 2012

To Mr. Harding, the Printer, On occasion of a paragraph in his newspaper of August 1, 1724, relating to Mr. Wood’s halfpence.

From Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734 by J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly

These halfpence, if they once pass, will soon be counterfeited, because it may be cheaply done, the stuff is so base.

From Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734 by J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly

“In my youth,” writes Stow, “I have seen them pass current, but with some difficulty, for the English halfpence were then, though not so broad, somewhat thicker and stronger.”

From Chaucer and His England by G. G. Coulton

And who has not envied the fool jingling his few halfpence on a tombstone or anywhere, to the satisfaction of himself and every one else?

From Diana Tempest, Volume II (of 3) by Mary Cholmondeley

In London, a coroner found that the late Sidney Corrall, acquisitive but non compos mentis, had swallowed and kept all to himself 201 pennies, florins, shillings, halfpennies, sixpences, half crowns, and threepenny bits.

From Time Magazine Archive

The most extensive case of coin swallowing was reported by Sedgefield General Hospital, County Durham, England, where a man was relieved of 366 halfpennies, 26 sixpences.

From Time Magazine Archive

I did a quick count: two iron halfpennies, nine shims, and a drab.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

He walked up to the Bird Woman and held out four halfpennies.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

On the one side sat the bride, a high-coloured, buxom young girl, serene and erect as Britannia on the halfpennies, and guarded by two stout fellows, masons or slaters apparently, in their working dresses.

From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Hugh Miller

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