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,
On behalf of,
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. ]
☞ The adjective and noun are often united to form a compound. [ 1913 Webster ]
Assumed from thence a half consent. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]
Half ape (Zool.),
Half back. (Football)
Half bent,
Half binding,
Half boarder,
Half-breadth plan (Shipbuilding),
Half cadence (Mus.),
Half cap,
At half cock,
Half hitch,
Half hose,
Half measure,
Half note (Mus.),
Half pay,
Half price,
Half round.
Half shift (Mus.),
Half step (Mus.),
Half tide,
Half time,
Half tint (Fine Arts),
Half truth,
Half year,
adv. In an equal part or degree; in some part approximating a half; partially; imperfectly;
Their children spoke halfin the speech of Ashdod. Neh. xiii. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.;
The four halves of the house. Chaucer. [ 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.
In half,
In one's half
On one's half
To cry halves,
To go halves,
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.
a.
n. (Zool.) Any slender, marine fish of the genus
☞ In the 2d and 3d senses usually with a hyphen. [ 1913 Webster ]
a.
n. A boot with a short top covering only the ankle. See Cocker, and
n. Having only the back and corners in leather, as a book. [ 1913 Webster ]
a.
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;
a. Half-filled. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Lions' half-clammed entrails roar for food. Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
To go off half-cocked,
To go off halfcocked
a. Half-demented; half-witted. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
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. 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;
a. Imperfectly or partly heard; not heard to the end. [ 1913 Webster ]
And leave half-heard the melancholy tale. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. a day on which half of the day is free from work or duty; a holiday of one half of a day. [ WordNet 1.5 ]
a. Done or happening at intervals of half an hour. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Imperfectly learned. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Of half the whole or ordinary length, as a picture. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Physics) the time it takes for one-half of a substance decaying in a first-order reaction to be destroyed. For radioactive substances, it is the time required for one-half of the initial amount of the radioactive isotope to decay. The
n. a grayish light (as at dawn or dusk or in dim interiors). [ WordNet 1.5 ]
n. A point some distance below the top of a mast or staff;
n.
See how in warlike muster they appear,
In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
. (Wrestling) A hold in which one arm is thrust under the corresponding arm of the opponent, generally behind, and the hand placed upon the back of his neck. In the
full nelson both hands are so placed. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. The quality of being half; incompleteness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
As soon as there is any departure from simplicity, and attempt at halfness, or good for me that is not good for him, my neighbor feels the wrong. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Arch.) A platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight. See Quarterpace. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ This term and
n. an English coin worth half a penny; -- no longer minted.
n. the amount that can be bought for a halfpenny.
n. (Mil.) A short pike, sometimes carried by officers of infantry, sometimes used in boarding ships; a spontoon. Tatler. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Naut.) One half of a shutter made in two parts for closing a porthole. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Geom.) A straight line considered as drawn from a center to an indefinite distance in one direction, the complete ray being the whole line drawn to an indefinite distance in both directions. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Informed by insufficient reading; superficial; shallow. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
Half drunk. [ Slang: used only predicatively. ] Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]