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n. [ Sp. ] (Bot.) The lucern (Medicago sativa), a leguminous plant having bluish purple cloverlike flowers, and cultivated for fodder; -- so called in California, Texas, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Metal.) An alloy of nickel and silver electroplated with silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp., fr. Ar. al-fārs knight. ] An ensign; a standard bearer. [ Obs. ] J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. alfetum, fr. AS. ālfæt a pot to boil in; āl burning + fæt vat. ] A caldron of boiling water into which an accused person plunged his forearm as a test of innocence or guilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Bot.) The pin grass (Erodium cicutarium), a weed in California. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ ‖ } n. [ Mex. Sp., fr. Sp. alfiler pin. ] Same as Alfilaria. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. (Zool.) An edible marine fish of California (Rhacochilus toxotes). [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Also alfarga, alforge. ] [ Sp. ] A saddlebag. [ Sp. Amer. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖adv. & a. [ It. al fresco in or on the fresh. ] In the open-air. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. on-behalve in the name of, bihalven by the side of, fr. AS. healf half, also side, part: akin to G. halb half, halber on account of. See Be-, and Half, n. ] Advantage; favor; stead; benefit; interest; profit; support; defense; vindication. [ 1913 Webster ]

In behalf of his mistress's beauty. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

In behalf of, in the interest of. --
On behalf of, on account of; on the part of. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Calves [ OE. calf, kelf, AS. cealf; akin to D. kalf, G. kalb, Icel. kālfr, Sw. kalf, Dan. kalv, Goth. kalbō; cf. Skr. garbha fetus, young, Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;, Skr grabh to seize, conceive, Ir. colpa, colpach, a calf. √222. ] 1. The young of the cow, or of the Bovine family of quadrupeds. Also, the young of some other mammals, as of the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and whale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-colored leather used in bookbinding; as, to bind books in calf. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Some silly, doting, brainless calf. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A small island near a larger; as, the Calf of Man. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A small mass of ice set free from the submerged part of a glacier or berg, and rising to the surface. Kane. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. [ Cf. Icel. kālfi. ] The fleshy hinder part of the leg below the knee. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calf's-foot jelly, jelly made from the feet of calves. The gelatinous matter of the feet is extracted by boiling, and is flavored with sugar, essences, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The hide or skin of a calf; or leather made of the skin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named from the dark color of the back. ] (Zool.) (a) The pollock; -- called also, coalsey, colemie, colmey, coal whiting, etc. See Pollock. (b) The beshow or candlefish of Alaska. (c) The cobia. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. of Delve. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From deal a long, narrow plank. ] (Zool.) A long, thin fish of the arctic seas (Trachypterus arcticus). [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bookbinding) Calf stained dark brown and worked without gilding, often used for theological books. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. excalfactio. ] A heating or warming; calefaction. [ Obs. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excalfacere to warm; ex out (intens.) + calfacere to warm. ] Serving to heat; warming. [ Obs. ] Cotgrave. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excalfactorius. ] Heating; warming. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) See Coltsfoot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ AS. healf, half, half; as a noun, half, side, part; akin to OS., OFries., & D. half, G. halb, Sw. half, Dan. halv, Icel. hālfr, Goth. halbs. Cf. Halve, Behalf. ] 1. Consisting of a moiety, or half; as, a half bushel; a half hour; a half dollar; a half view. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The adjective and noun are often united to form a compound. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect; as, a half dream; half knowledge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assumed from thence a half consent. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Half ape (Zool.), a lemur. --
Half back. (Football) See under 2d Back. --
Half bent, the first notch, for the sear point to enter, in the tumbler of a gunlock; the halfcock notch. --
Half binding, a style of bookbinding in which only the back and corners are in leather. --
Half boarder, one who boards in part; specifically, a scholar at a boarding school who takes dinner only. --
Half-breadth plan (Shipbuilding), a horizontal plan of one half a vessel, divided lengthwise, showing the lines. --
Half cadence (Mus.), a cadence on the dominant. --
Half cap, a slight salute with the cap. [ Obs. ] Shak. --
At half cock, the position of the cock of a gun when retained by the first notch. --
Half hitch, a sailor's knot in a rope; half of a clove hitch. --
Half hose, short stockings; socks. --
Half measure, an imperfect or weak line of action. --
Half note (Mus.), a minim, one half of a semibreve. --
Half pay, half of the wages or salary; reduced pay; as, an officer on half pay. --
Half price, half the ordinary price; or a price much reduced. --
Half round. (a) (Arch.) A molding of semicircular section. (b) (Mech.) Having one side flat and the other rounded; -- said of a file. --
Half shift (Mus.), a position of the hand, between the open position and the first shift, in playing on the violin and kindred instruments. See Shift. --
Half step (Mus.), a semitone; the smallest difference of pitch or interval, used in music. --
Half tide, the time or state of the tide equally distant from ebb and flood. --
Half time, half the ordinary time for work or attendance; as, the half-time system. --
Half tint (Fine Arts), a middle or intermediate tint, as in drawing or painting. See Demitint. --
Half truth, a statement only partially true, or which gives only a part of the truth. Mrs. Browning. --
Half year, the space of six months; one term of a school when there are two terms in a year. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an equal part or degree; in some part approximating a half; partially; imperfectly; as, half-colored, half done, half-hearted, half persuaded, half conscious. “Half loth and half consenting.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their children spoke halfin the speech of Ashdod. Neh. xiii. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Halves [ AS. healf. See Half, a. ] 1. Part; side; behalf. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

The four halves of the house. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of two equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided; -- sometimes followed by of; as, a half of an apple. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not half his riches known, and yet despised. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A friendship so complete
Portioned in halves between us. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Better half. See under Better. --
In half, in two; an expression sometimes used improperly instead of in halves or into halves; as, to cut in half. [ Colloq. ] Dickens. --
In one's half or
On one's half, in one's behalf; on one's part. [ Obs. ] --
To cry halves, to claim an equal share with another. --
To go halves, to share equally between two. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To halve. [ Obs. ] See Halve. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mixture of two malt liquors, esp. porter and ale, in about equal parts. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Football) A person who plays the position of halfback{ 2 } on a football team.
Syn. -- running back. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. The position of either of two players on a football team who typically begins each play behind the line and on either side of the quarterback. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. 1. Insufficiently or poorly planned or thought out; impractical or unrealistic; as, a half-baked proposal; half-baked ideas; -- of plans, theories, proposals, etc. [ PJC ]

2. Insufficiently cooked; -- of food. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) Any slender, marine fish of the genus Hemirhamphus, or of the family Hemiramphidae, having an elongated protruding lower jaw; -- called also balahoo. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The relation between persons born of the same father or of the same mother, but not of both; as, a brother or sister of the half blood. See Blood, n., 2 and 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person so related to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A person whose father and mother are of different races; a half-breed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the 2d and 3d senses usually with a hyphen. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Proceeding from a male and female of different breeds or races; having only one parent of good stock; as, a half-blooded sheep. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Degenerate; mean. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A boot with a short top covering only the ankle. See Cocker, and Congress boot, under Congress. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Having only the back and corners in leather, as a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Half-blooded. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Imperfectly acquainted with the rules of good-breeding; not well trained. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Half-blooded. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person who is half-blooded; the offspring of parents of different races, especially of the American Indian and the white race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A brother by one parent, but not by both. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One born of a European parent on the one side, and of a Hindu or Muslim on the other. Also adjective; as, half-caste parents. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Half-filled. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Lions' half-clammed entrails roar for food. Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Halfcocked p. pr. & vb. n. Halfcocking. ] To set the cock of (a firearm) at the first notch. [ 1913 Webster ]

To go off half-cocked,
To go off halfcocked. (a) To be discharged prematurely, or with the trigger at half cock; -- said of a firearm. (b) To do or say something without due thought or care. [ Colloq. or Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Half-demented; half-witted. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) A shell of the genus Crepidula; a boat shell. See Boat shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. See Half deck, under Deck. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Partially decked. [ 1913 Webster ]

The half-decked craft . . . used by the latter Vikings. Elton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Half. ] Wanting half its due qualities. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ OE. halfendele. See Half, and Deal. ] Half; by the half part. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. -- n. A half part. [ Obs. ] R. of Brunne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who possesses or gives half only; one who shares. [ Obs. ] Bp. Montagu. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A male fallow deer gelded. Pegge (1814). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Showing only part of the face; wretched looking; meager. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A salmon in its fifth year of growth. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Imperfectly hatched; as, half-hatched eggs. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]