biannual

bi·an·nu·al

adjective \(ˌ)bī-ˈan-yə(-wə)l\

Definition of BIANNUAL

1

: occurring twice a year

2

: biennial 1

See Usage Discussion at bi-

— bi·an·nu·al·ly adverb

Examples of BIANNUAL

1. The group holds biannual meetings in December and July.
2. The art show is a biannual event that won't happen again for two more years.
3. Politicians still tremble when Barry begins his biannual comeback flirtations. … But if they'd spent less time looking over their shoulders and more time looking over election returns, they'd have seen that Barry was likely heading for a poleaxing when he called it quits. —Michael Schaffer, New Republic, 22 Apr. 2002
4. … have recommended routine annual or biannual mammographic screening for asymptomatic women without a personal or family history of breast cancer, starting at the age of 40. —Nels Marcus Thygeson, Journal of the American Medical Association, 8 July 1986
5. One of the more fascinating commonplace facts about the whitetail is its biannual change of color. Summer, when deer come “into the red,” as the saying goes, scant reddish-brown hairs replace the winter coat. Fall, deer come back “into the blue,” though less than blue, with a thick pelage of hollow, grayish-tan hairs … —John G. Mitchell, Smithsonian, November 1982

First Known Use of BIANNUAL

1877

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, myriad, quarantine, score, twain

Rhymes with BIANNUAL

field spaniel