half
(noun, adjective)
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Half an apple.
A half is 50% of something. The plural of half is halves.
- I can't eat all this pizza. Do you want half (of it)?
- He lived in Portugal for five and a half years.
A half is also a period of time in some sports. For example, a game of soccer has two halves of 45 minutes each.
- Messi got a red card in the final minute of the first half.
Common uses
We use half to talk about time. For example, when it’s 12:30, we can say that it’s twelve thirty or half past twelve.
If you cut something in half, it means that you cut it into two equal parts. For example, “Cut the strawberries in half and put them on the cake.”
Did you know?
The ‘l’ in half is silent. Listen to the pronunciation here.
In pop culture
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sport games on American television. It’s the final match to find the best American football team. After the first half, there’s a big celebration called the Halftime Show. In this video, you can see Shakira and J.Lo’s performance at the Halftime Show.
There are other meanings of half.
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