Making excessively fine or trivial distinctions in reasoning; overly subtle. The act or practice of making trivial distinctions.

The slender recoil spring which regulates the motion of the balance in a timepiece.

A butterfly of the genus Thecla; as, the green hairstreak (Thecla rubi).

Any species of marine fishes of the genus Trichiurus; esp., Trichiurus lepturus of Europe and America. They are long and like a band, with a slender, pointed tail. Called also bladefish.

Bearing or covered with hair; made of or resembling hair; rough with hair; hirsute.

a country on the island of Hispaniola.

Same as Haytian; -- now the preferred spelling.

The Egyptian asp or cobra (Naja haje.) It is related to the cobra of India, and like the latter has the power of inflating its neck into a hood. Its bite is very venomous. It is supposed to be the snake by means of whose bite Cleopatra committed suicide, and hence is sometimes called Cleopatra's snake or asp. See Asp.

A pilgrimage to Mecca; every Muslim must make this journey at least once.

One who has made a journey to Mecca; Same as hadji.

To loiter; to sneak.

See Forkbeard.

Same as Acton.

A Muslim title for a ruler; a judge.

Harold; -- a nickname.

The name of an intelligent computer in the movie 2001, directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The general term for the Hebrew oral or traditional law; one of two branches of exposition in the Midrash. See Midrash.

An appearance as of a halo of light, surrounding the edges of dark objects in a photographic picture.

An ancient long-handled weapon, of which the head had a point and several long, sharp edges, curved or straight, and sometimes additional points. The heads were sometimes of very elaborate form.

Hastate.

One who is armed with a halberd.

Pertaining to, or resembling, the halcyon, which was anciently said to lay her eggs in nests on or near the sea during the calm weather about the winter solstice.

Halcyon; calm.

See Alcyonoid.

To pull; to drag; to haul.

A genus of herbs of Eurasia and the Americas: spurred gentians.

A genus of American shrubs containing several species, called snowdrop trees, or silver-bell trees. They have showy, white flowers, drooping on slender pedicels.

To halve. [Obs.] See Halve.

The relation between persons born of the same father or of the same mother, but not of both; as, a brother or sister of the half blood. See Blood, n., 2 and 4.

A mixture of two malt liquors, esp. porter and ale, in about equal parts.

Insufficiently or poorly planned or thought out; impractical or unrealistic; as, a half-baked proposal; half-baked ideas; -- of plans, theories, proposals, etc.

Proceeding from a male and female of different breeds or races; having only one parent of good stock; as, a half-blooded sheep.

A boot with a short top covering only the ankle. See Cocker, and Congress boot, under Congress.

Having only the back and corners in leather, as a book.

Half-blooded.

A person who is half-blooded; the offspring of parents of different races, especially of the American Indian and the white race.

A brother by one parent, but not by both.

One born of a European parent on the one side, and of a Hindu or Muslim on the other. Also adjective; as, half-caste parents.

Half-filled.

Half-demented; half-witted.

A shell of the genus Crepidula; a boat shell. See Boat shell.

Partially decked.

Showing only part of the face; wretched looking; meager.

A salmon in its fifth year of growth.

Imperfectly hatched; as, half-hatched eggs.

Imperfectly or partly heard; not heard to the end.

Wanting in heart or spirit; ungenerous; unkind.

a day on which half of the day is free from work or duty; a holiday of one half of a day.

Done or happening at intervals of half an hour.

Imperfectly learned.

Of half the whole or ordinary length, as a picture.

the time it takes for one-half of a substance decaying in a first-order reaction to be destroyed. For radioactive substances, it is the time required for one-half of the initial amount of the radioactive isotope to decay. The half-lifeis a measure of the rate of the reaction being observed. For processes that are true first-order processes, such as radioactive decay, the half-life is independent of the quantity of material present, and it is thus a constant. The time it takes for one-half the remaining quantity of a radioactive isotope to decay will be the same regardless of how far the decay process has advanced. Some chemical reactions are also first order, and may be characterized as having a half-life. However, for chemical reactions the half-life will depend upon temperature and in some cases other environmental conditions, whereas for radioactive isotopes the rate of decay is largely independent of the environment.

a grayish light (as at dawn or dusk or in dim interiors).

A point some distance below the top of a mast or staff; as, a flag a half-mast (a token of mourning, etc.).

The moon at the quarters, when half its disk appears illuminated.

An English coin of the value of half a penny, no longer minted; also, the value of half a penny.

A short pike, sometimes carried by officers of infantry, sometimes used in boarding ships; a spontoon.

One half of a shutter made in two parts for closing a porthole.

A straight line considered as drawn from a center to an indefinite distance in one direction, the complete ray being the whole line drawn to an indefinite distance in both directions.

Informed by insufficient reading; superficial; shallow.

A sister by one parent only.

Half-bred; imperfect.

Half the length of a sword; close fight.

Constructed of a timber frame, having the spaces filled in with masonry; -- said of buildings.

Having, consisting of, or pertaining to, half tones; pertaining to or designating plates, processes, or the pictures made by them, in which gradation of tone in the photograph is reproduced by a graduated system of dotted and checkered spots, usually nearly invisible to the unaided eye, produced by the interposition between the camera and the object of a screen. The name alludes to the fact that this process was the first that was practically successful in reproducing the half tones of the photograph.

An intermediate or middle tone in a painting, engraving, photograph, etc.; a middle tint, neither very dark nor very light.

A jury, for the trial of a foreigner, composed equally of citizens and aliens.

a half-tracked vehicle; -- used mostly of armored military vehicles.

having caterpillar treads on the rear and wheels in front; as, half-track armored vehicles.

a partially true statement, especially one intended to deceive or mislead.

A foolish person; a dolt; a blockhead; a dunce.

Weak in intellect; silly.

Two in a year; semiannual. Twice in a year; semiannually.

A person who plays the position of halfback{2} on a football team.

Any slender, marine fish of the genus Hemirhamphus, or of the family Hemiramphidae, having an elongated protruding lower jaw; -- called also balahoo.

To set the cock of (a firearm) at the first notch.

Wanting half its due qualities.

Half; by the half part. A half part.

One who possesses or gives half only; one who shares.

The quality of being half; incompleteness.

A platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight. See Quarterpace.

an English coin worth half a penny; -- no longer minted.

the amount that can be bought for a halfpenny.

an intermission between the first and second half of a game, especially a football game. Also used attributively, as the halftime entertainment

Equally distant from the extremes; situated at an intermediate point; midway; as, at the halfway mark.

A large, northern, marine flatfish (Hippoglossus vulgaris), of the family Pleuronectidae. It often grows very large, weighing more than three hundred pounds. It is an important food fish.

An order of sponges, having simple siliceous spicules and keratose fibers; -- called also Keratosilicoidea.

Same as Dugong.

Holiness; sanctity; sacred oath; sacred things; sanctuary; -- used chiefly in oaths.

A treatise upon fish or the art of fishing; ichthyology.

The feast of All Saints; Hallowmas.

A genus of trees consisting of one species, the salt tree.

One who writes about or describes the sea.

Description of the sea; the science that treats of the sea.

A natural family of mollusks including the abalone (Haliotis).

A genus of marine shells; the ear-shells. See Abalone.

Like or pertaining to the genus Haliotis; ear-shaped.

The Enaliosauria.

Native salt; sodium chloride.

Produced by, or like, breath; vaporous.

A nook; a corner.

A building or room of considerable size and stateliness, used for public purposes; as, Westminster Hall, in London.

The official stamp of the Goldsmiths' Company and other assay offices, in the United Kingdom, on gold and silver articles, attesting their purity.

A fee or toll paid for goods sold in a hall.

Praise ye Jehovah; praise ye the Lord; -- an exclamation used chiefly in songs of praise or thanksgiving to God, and as an expression of gratitude or adoration.

Pertaining to, or containing, hallelujahs.

See Halyard.

Same as Halidom.

A kind of net for catching birds.

An exclamation to call attention or to encourage one. Now mostly replaced by hello.

To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence.

belonging to or derived from or associated with a divine power; made holy. Opposite of unholy.

The evening preceding Allhallows or All Saints' Day (November 1); also the entire day, October 31. It is often marked by parties or celebrations, and sometimes by pranks played by young people.

The feast of All Saints, or Allhallows.

A claylike mineral, occurring in soft, smooth, amorphous masses, of a whitish color.

Of or pertaining to Hallstatt, Austria, or the Hallstatt civilization.

Of or pertaining to the hallux.

To wander; to go astray; to err; to blunder; -- used of mental processes.

To experience (something nonexistent) as an hallucination{2}.

Experiencing hallucinations.