halfpenny

American  

[hey-puh-nee, heyp-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  a small British coin worth half a new penny, withdrawn from circulation in 1985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

Etymology

Origin of halfpenny

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

halfpenny halfpence halfpennies

It is a far cry from the old hospital, opened in 1904 at a cost of £3,200, and its upkeep paid for by iron and coal workers donating a halfpenny a week from their wages.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2023

“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

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

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2021

The Libraries Act of 1850 empowered larger local authorities to add a halfpenny to the rate to run a free public library – but not to buy books, or raise the capital to build it.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2011

Davos stopped beneath the colonnade and traded a halfpenny for an apple.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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

From The Guardian ● Oct. 5, 2012

"Four pounds, seven shillings, and a few halfpence," he concluded, counting it up.

From The Story of Charles Strange Vol. 2 (of 3) A Novel by Mrs. Henry Wood

In the first months of his tenure of office he had to deal with the furious opposition to Wood’s halfpence, and to counteract the effect of Swift’s Draper’s Letters.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

The common weight of these halfpence is between four and five to an ounce—suppose five, then three shillings and four pence will weigh a pound, and consequently twenty shillings will weigh six pounds butter weight.

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

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

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

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

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

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

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

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

"Yes, I have a s'illing, and a dear little fourpenny, and three halfpennies," said Racey, running to fetch his purse.

From The Boys and I by Mrs. Molesworth