Definition of BIWEEKLIES

What do bimonthly and biweekly mean?: Usage Guide

Adjective

Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from two different senses of bi-: "occurring every two" and "occurring two times." This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary. The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear. So if you need bimonthly or biweekly, you should leave some clues in your context to the sense of bi- you mean. And if you need the meaning "twice a," you can substitute semi- for bi-. Biannual and biennial are usually differentiated.

Examples of biweekly in a Sentence

Adjective

The biweekly mortgage loan was started in Canada and is now offered by lenders in the United States. This loan is similar to the standard fixed-rate loan except for the frequency of payments. Instead of making one monthly payment, the borrower makes a payment equal to one-half of the normal monthly payment every two weeks … — Stephen R. Mettling et al., Modern Residential Financing Methods, 1990 Last week ABC brought back Dick Cavett … and introduced syndicated newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin as Cavett's biweekly alternate (Thursday and Fridays). — Harry Waters, Newsweek, 6 Oct. 1986 She attends biweekly classes and studies at the library every Saturday.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The free, biweekly event occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays through Labor Day, and one of those dates is this weekend. — Adam Lukach, RedEye Chicago, "5 things to do this weekend in Chicago," 5 July 2018 Yelich, though, is more than just biweekly checks at below-market rates. — Jon Tayler, SI.com, "Brewers Bet Big on the Present in Acquiring Christian Yelich, Signing Lorenzo Cain," 25 Jan. 2018 The 30-minute, biweekly documentary series sheds light (or rather, sound) on lives that remain largely hidden from those on the outside. — Rosa Inocencio Smith, The Atlantic, "The Atlantic Daily: Harvey's Destruction," 28 Aug. 2017 Officers from across the Police Department now attend biweekly intelligence-gathering meetings to share information and discuss violent crime trends. — Glenn E. Rice, kansascity.com, "As violence spikes, KC will deploy more police officers in problem neighborhoods," 19 June 2017 Time brings us our now biweekly revelation that the Russian ratfcking of the 2016 presidential election went far beyond revealing John Podesta's recipes to the world, and circulating the mean things someone once said about Bernie Sanders. — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, "The Constitution Simply Was Not Built for This," 22 June 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Shaker does not anticipate a 27th biweekly payroll installment until 2026, Chief Administrative Officer Jeri Chaikin told council. — Thomas Jewell, cleveland.com, "Shaker Heights realizes some Vision Fund revenues for upcoming budget," 20 Aug. 2019 Her first biweekly payment of $167.22 was due in December 2018. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "Westland woman had 350% interest rate on $1,200 loan — and a loophole allows it," 12 July 2019 The Moving Chronicles is her biweekly missive about her adventures in moving to Benin. — Joy Notoma, Longreads, "When to Throw a Goodbye Party," 19 July 2019 The online grocery service rescues cosmetically challenged produce from farms and delivers it directly to customers, who sign up for weekly or biweekly shipments ranging from seven to 25 pounds of food, starting at $11. — Kara Baskin, BostonGlobe.com, "Cosmetically challenged produce, delivered straight to your door," 15 July 2019 Arboretum staff go out biweekly to measure growth and note flowers and the plant's overall condition, plus any pests or diseases. — Karel Holloway, Dallas News, "Dallas Arboretum releases newest plant recommendations — veggies included — for North Texas," 10 July 2019 Stumpf and a team of scientists have created red tide forecasts that are released biweekly to let people know how safe an area in Florida (and elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico) is for recreation. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "Red tides, explained," 5 July 2019 Jones serves as Chair of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville and writes a biweekly opinion article for the Courier Journal. — Lucas Aulbach, The Courier-Journal, "Ricky Jones column on 'lying, nasty Republicans' used by Jefferson County GOP to fundraise," 14 June 2019 Sandra Mattavous-Frye, director of the D.C. Office of the People’s Counsel, will pay her fine in 12 biweekly installments of $416.66 and attend ethics training. — Fenit Nirappil, Washington Post, "D.C. government official fined $5,000 for using assistant for personal tasks," 12 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biweekly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.