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Glite Dictionary
last half

last half

4 1.4
The later part of a game or match after the break
  • noun
translation icon : segunda mitad
  • In the last half of the match, both teams played aggressively, leading to an exciting finish.
  • last half of the century

Floyd Money Mayweather was undefeated for the last half of his career with one hand.

Examples

  • With the war at an end, the last half of the nineteenth century represented tremendous growth in industrial capability within the United States.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The last half hour was more exhausting, physically and mentally, than all the others.

    Blog text (1)

  • Stanford can do those things... maybe until the last half of the fourth quarter, because it's almost impossible to stifle Oregon forever.

    Blog text (13)

  • Jeff Perry was an interrogator with the Special Task Force at Camp Name during the last half of 2004.

    Blog text (28)

  • An overriding story arc forms slowly throughout the series, solidifying in the last half of the season.

    Blog text (23)

  • The widespread and extensive application of standardized tests to evaluate and assess the educational status of children is a phenomenon well established during the last half of the 20th century.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), an English-educated Indian intellectual who spent the last half of his life in the United States, founded the first American collection of Indian art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after World War I.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The team made a strong comeback in the last half of the game, scoring three goals.

  • The player scored twice in the last half, securing a victory for his team.

Synonyms

second half
vslast half
160 1.6

The later part of a game after halftime

is the exact same meaning but a different wording

Antonyms

first half
126 1.0

The first period of a game when play is split into two equal parts

Surface Forms

last half singular
last halves plural

Morphology

last + half

The meaning 'the second of two halves' is directly derivable from combining 'last' (coming at the end) with 'half' (one of two timed periods). This is a regular, compositional pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Last half comes from sports and games that are split into two parts, the first half and the last half. The last half is the final part of the match, so it means 'the second or later part' of the game.