in half
English
Prepositional phrase
- (set phrase) Into two halves.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 29:
- Nicholas picked up Mr Lenville's ash stick which had flown out of his hand, and breaking it in half, threw him the pieces.
- 1905, P. G. Wodehouse, "A Corner in Lines":
- "Kindly take them in batches of ten sheets, and tear them in half, Dunstable."
- 2014 July 2, Adam Withnall, "Hero Good Samaritan bends car door in half," The Independent (UK) (retrieved 23 July 2014):
- A hero exhibiting “superhuman strength” has saved the life of a motorist trapped in a burning vehicle by bending the car's door in half with his bare hands.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 29:
- (set phrase) By a divisor of two; to a numerical value which is half of the original value.
- 2005 April 26, Andrew Pollack, "Breast Cancer Recurrence Is Cut in Half by a Drug," New York Times (retrieved 23 July 2014):
- A biotechnology cancer drug cuts in half the risk that one type of breast cancer will recur after surgery.
- 2012 May 16, John Otis, "The Blast in Bogotá: A Reminder of Colombia's Unsolved Problems," Time (retrieved 23 July 2014):
- [H]e helped oversee a military offensive that cut the numbers of rebel forces in half to about 8,000 fighters.
- 2005 April 26, Andrew Pollack, "Breast Cancer Recurrence Is Cut in Half by a Drug," New York Times (retrieved 23 July 2014):
Usage notes
Formerly proscribed as improper, e.g., by Webster 1913.
Synonyms
- (into two halves): in two; see also Thesaurus:asunder
Translations
fifty-fifty — see fifty-fifty
References
- in half at OneLook Dictionary Search
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