halve

[hav, hahv]

See more synonyms for halve on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), halved, halv·ing.

to divide into two equal parts.
to share equally: to halve one's rations with a stranger.
to reduce to half.

Golf. to play (a hole, round, or match) in the same number of strokes as one's opponent.

Idioms

halve together, to join (two pieces of wood) by cutting from one, at the place of joining, a portion fitting to that left solid in the other.

Origin of halve

1250–1300; Middle English halven, derivative of half

Related formsun·halved, adjective

Can be confusedhalve have

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

Related Words for halve

bisect

Examples from the Web for halve

Contemporary Examples of halve

The company is shedding 5,400 of its 63,500 employees and taking a number of charges that will halve its quarterly profits.
American Express Charges Backward, Laying Off 5,400
Daniel Gross
January 11, 2013
Halve that again, just because the numbers seem so absurd, and vampires are worth $62.5 million each October.
Gross Vampire Product
Duff McDonald
November 18, 2009

Historical Examples of halve

He used to give her peanuts when he was in short jackets, and she used to halve her candies with him.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
One's for you, both if you like; or we can halve them, and taste each of them.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression
Emile Zola
Pare thin and halve four pounds of apricots, put them in a dish, and strew among them three pounds of fine loaf-sugar powdered.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Of the next seven holes I managed to win three and halve two.
Once a Week
Alan Alexander Milne
To his suggestion that they should, at any rate, halve the load, Lindela laughed in scorn.
The Sign of the Spider
Bertram Mitford

British Dictionary definitions for halve

halve

verb (tr)

to divide into two approximately equal parts
to share equally
to reduce by half, as by cutting
golf to take the same number of strokes on (a hole or round) as one's opponent

Word Origin for halve

Old English hielfan; related to Middle High German helben; see half

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 halve

c.1200, halfen "to divide in halves;" see half. Meaning "to reduce by half" is from c.1400. Related: Halved; halving.