second half

153 1.6

The later part of a game after halftime

noun

: segunda mitad

After halftime, the teams returned to play the second half of the match.

I played up top on my own at Old Trafford second-half, got the bubbly, got the MOM.

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Examples

Doctors tell me running back Rolando Jones has suffered a torn ACL... ...and will not be returning for the second half.

Playing for Keeps (2012)
The Bulldogs are trailing in the second half as they receive the Devils'punt.

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
I hope the second half is better than the first.

Red Lights (2012)
It's a tie score at the bottom of the second half.

She's the Man (2006)
We're ready to play the second half.

F.A.R.T.: The Movie (1991)
Eddie scores two touchdowns in the second half, bringing the Titans close.

Fiction book (2002)
Company CEO Christopher Galvin says that the earliest signs of a turnaround will come with a gradual increase in sales and profitability in the second half of the year.

Brave the Dark (2025)
The Indian government undertook large-scale national rinderpest elimination campaigns throughout the second half of the twentieth century.

Academic text (2013)
The score was even as they entered the second half of the game.
In the second half, the home team played with much more energy and won decisively.

Synonyms

last half

vssecond half

40 1.4

The later part of a game or match after the break

is the later part that follows the central break in play

second period

vssecond half

14 2.7

The part of a sports game that comes after the first part

is the later section specifically after the midgame break when play uses two parts

Surface Forms

second half singular

second halves plural

Morphology

2nd + half

The meaning 'the latter of two equal parts of a game' is directly and compositionally derived from 'second' (follows the first) + 'half' (one of two timed periods). This literal ordinal + period construction is cross-linguistically common and follows regular English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrase second half comes from sports where a game is split into two equal parts, the first half and the second half, with a break called halftime. After that break the play continues in the 'second half', so the phrase now means 'the later part of the match'.