halve
halve Lexical Profile
halve Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To divide something into two equal parts, or to share something equally between two people or groups.
"Halve the peaches and remove the pits before placing them on the grill."
To reduce or be reduced to half of the original amount, size, or degree.
"The new express train line will nearly halve the commute time between the two cities."
To finish a hole or match in the same number of strokes as one's opponent (in golf).
"She sank a difficult ten-foot putt on the eighteenth green to halve the match."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the verb 'halve' (pronounced with a voiced /v/ and Silent L) with the noun/adjective 'half' (pronounced with an unvoiced /f/) or the common auxiliary verb 'have' (pronounced with a short 'a' in American English, though homophonous with 'halve' for some speakers).
• Rhymes for halve
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Middle English 'halven', derived from the noun 'half' (Old English 'healf', meaning side or part), with the voicing of the fricative from 'f' to 'v' originally occurring between vowels in inflected forms.