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• part time
  part time

  noun

  a period of time that is less than full time: PT, P/T
• part-time
  part-time

  adjective

  employed, functioning, or working less than the customary or requisite number of hours.

part time

¹ American  

[pahrt tahym] / ˈpɑrt ˈtaɪm /

noun

1. a period of time that is less than full time: PT, P/T

   Thirty-five hours a week is still considered part time.

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part-time ² American  

[pahrt-tahym, pahrt-tahym] / ˈpɑrtˌtaɪm, ˈpɑrtˈtaɪm /

adjective

1. employed, functioning, or working less than the customary or requisite number of hours.

   They had only enough money to hire a part-time clerk.

2. lasting, requiring, or being in force only a part of the time.

   part-time employment;

   part-time jobs.

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adverb

1. on a part-time basis.

   to work part-time.

part-time British  

adjective

1. for less than the entire time appropriate to an activity

   a part-time job

   a part-time waitress

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adverb

1. on a part-time basis

   he works part time

Other Word Forms

• part-timer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of part time¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Origin of part-time²

First recorded in 1890–95; adjective, adverb use of part time

Explanation

Anything that's part-time is done less often than is typical or average. If you're sick of working full-time hours, try working part-time. Part-time works as an adjective or an adverb, to describe things that don't take up as much time as you might expect, just part of a day or part of a week. If you're a part-time bus driver, you might do it twenty hours each week, in between classes. You could also call yourself a part-time student, or say that you study sociology part-time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

part time part-time

Full-time employment in Canada fell by 35,900 during August, while part time jobs declined by 5,800.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The question is whether Ted, working part time as the assistant manager of a supermarket, is living the best version of himself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

She also works part time with a government agency providing therapy services for children, but the work isn’t steady, especially during the summer when school is out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

A recent survey conducted by Indeed Flex, a job search site, says almost 30% of retirees are considering part time or temporary work.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

They are going to pay me evry week like for a part time job because that was part of the arraingment when they got the mony from the Welberg foundashun.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

If you like traveling and see yourself eventually being able to live in Mexico part-time, that is important information.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

This suggests that part-time workers increased their hours, perhaps because wages weren’t keeping pace with inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

He’s been so rocked by recent tech layoffs over the past few years that he began taking part-time nursing classes at a local community college.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

But part-time service industry worker Konno Hazuki, 29, does not feel she is "about to be replaced by AI".

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Several months after Barack’s announcement in Springfield and with the support of my colleagues, I’d decided to scale back to part-time hours, knowing it was the only sustainable way to keep going.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama