half hour

noun

1

: thirty minutes

2

: the middle point of an hour

half-hourly

ˈhaf-ˈau̇(-ə)r-lē 

ˈhäf-

adverb or adjective

Examples of half hour in a Sentence

Trains depart every half hour.

I waited a half hour in line.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the first real break came in the form of an offer to play two-and-a-half hours away in San Angelo, Texas. — Bill Forman, Daily News, 7 July 2026

However, most of the action in the first half was played on their end as France put the pressure on through the first half hour of the match. — Matt Reigle, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026

With both the bride and groom wearing Christian Dior haute couture and Christian Louboutin shoes, the 14x Grammy winner and 3x Super Bowl champion were hitched within the last half hour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 July 2026

The 39th-minute goal was against the run of play as the Norwegians had largely been chasing the game for most of the opening half hour before starting to come into the match more just before Nusa’s effort. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 30 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for half hour

• bower
• cower
• dour
• flour
• flower
• fower
• glower
• our
• power
• scour
• shower
• sour

Kids Definition

half hour

noun

1

: thirty minutes

2

: the middle point of an hour

half-hourly

ˈhaf-ˈau̇(ə)r-lē, 

ˈhȧf-

adverb or adjective