half-hour

[ haf-ouuhr, -ou-er, hahf- ]

noun

1. a period of 30 minutes.
2. the midpoint between the hours:

   The clock struck on the half-hour.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or consisting of a half-hour:

   half-hour programs.

half-hour

noun

1. 1. a period of 30 minutes
   2. ( as modifier )

      a half-hour stint on the treadmill

2. 1. the point of time 30 minutes after the beginning of an hour
   2. ( as modifier )

      a half-hour chime

Derived Forms

• ˌhalf-ˈhourly, adverbadjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of half-hour¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Example Sentences

But the sunlight is threatening to fade and a three-and-a-half-hour river journey back to Kisangani looms.

From The Daily Beast

As an election tactic, it was a Hail-Mary move: a half-hour address by an aging actor of no political standing or constituency.

From The Daily Beast

The ferries run every half-hour to the Russian mainland, but they take only a few dozen cars on each trip.

From The Daily Beast

He would spend at least a half-hour being decontaminated afterward.

From The Daily Beast

A year earlier the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC had expanded to a half-hour.

From The Daily Beast

We had yet to learn the temperament of a capital, where every half-hour produced a total change of the popular mind.

From Project Gutenberg

Coulter could hardly drink, and it was a good half-hour before he felt at all like even speaking.

From Project Gutenberg

A half-hour later they were riding under the porte cochere of the inn of the Black Boar.

From Project Gutenberg

The housekeeper stood sentry with the broom, and the worthy captains slept on for another half-hour.

From Project Gutenberg

Ruth found Mr Bellingham was not yet come down; so she sallied out for an additional half-hour's ramble.

From Project Gutenberg