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

When experimenting to create the electric lightbulb, in 1879, Thomas Edison and his team succeeded in getting a carbon filament to burn for fourteen and a half hours. —Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026

Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini effectively decided the result in the first half hour, before substitute Fabio Silva completed the scoring late. —ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026

But Zadorov took part in Saturday’s half hour practice, as did every other blue liner. —Stephen Conroy, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2026

Viewers had to switch to their computers to see the last half hour. —Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 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