The AI-powered English dictionary
(set phrase) Into two halves. quotations examples
Nicholas picked up Mr Lenville's ash stick which had flown out of his hand, and breaking it in half, threw him the pieces.
1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 29, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839
"Kindly take them in batches of ten sheets, and tear them in half, Dunstable."
1905, P. G. Wodehouse, A Corner in Lines
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.
2014 July 2, Adam Withnall, “Hero Good Samaritan bends car door in half”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 23 July 2014
(set phrase) By a divisor of two; to a numerical value which is half of the original value. quotations examples
A biotechnology cancer drug cuts in half the risk that one type of breast cancer will recur after surgery.
2005 April 26, Andrew Pollack, “Breast Cancer Recurrence Is Cut in Half by a Drug”, in New York Times, 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.
2012 May 16, John Otis, “The Blast in Bogotá: A Reminder of Colombia's Unsolved Problems”, in Time, retrieved 23 July 2014