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Glite Dictionary
to halve

to halve

6 3.6
To cut something into two equal parts
  • verb
  • /hæv/
translation icon : partir por la mitad
  • Margaret picks up her knife to halve the wafers of chocolate before she adds them to the sauce.

Examples

  • Wash the sweet potatoes, halve them lengthwise, and then cut each half into 3 long wedges.

    Blog text (17)

  • Plan your Las Vegas trip during the week rather than on weekends; this could halve your accommodation costs.

    Blog text (31)

  • If I were to cut this in half, let's go ahead and do that.

  • But it shows that when I said we would halve inflation, I meant it.

  • So I like to slice them in half just like that.

  • I'm going to cut them in half to make a quarter round.

  • Recently, a more targeted program has been proposed to halve the prices that are charged to those below the poverty line.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Obama promised to halve the deficit; Romney should name agencies or programs to be cut.

    Blog text (27)

  • Instead of the kids gorging on all the candy, they choose favorites and halve or quarter the pieces.

    Blog text (22)

  • To prepare the recipe, first halve the strawberries and then mix them with sugar.

Synonyms

to divide
vsto halve
  • Specialized
143 1.5

To find how many times one number goes into another

means splitting into exactly two equal parts rather than many parts
to bisect
vsto halve
5 5.1

Divide something into two equal parts, usually by a straight line or cut

is splitting something into two equal parts without focusing on method

Antonyms

to unite
∞ 2.1

To join people or things into one group for a shared purpose

to combine
638 2.7

To mix two or more things into one

How Much

to multiply
75 3.2
to triple
103 2.5
double
55 1.9
to increase
∞ 1.0
to halve
6 3.6
to decrease
325 2.0

Surface Forms

halve infinitive
halved past
halved past participle
halving present participle
halves third person singular

Morphology

halve = half (transparent) = half + e

The verb is directly formed from the noun 'half' (with final f voiced and written as -ve) meaning 'make into halves', so learners knowing 'half' can infer the verb.

Etymology

Halve comes from the old word half, which means 'one of two equal parts'. So, to halve something is to split it into two equal parts.