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

The northern African team, which will call the region home during the FIFA World Cup this summer, arrived Sunday evening, and players and staff quickly exited the plane after a 10-and-a-half hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean and jumped on a charter bus bound for a hotel in Lawrence. —Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 8 June 2026

The Goth Grandmasters At a whopping two and a half hours, the Cure’s Friday night headlining set was by far the longest of the weekend. —Walden Green, Pitchfork, 8 June 2026

With rocky mountaintops and rushing waterways, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest provides a Great Smoky Mountains-like escape—all within three and a half hours of the nation’s capital. —Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2026

The Thursday night group was seen leaving about three hours afterward, according to the NYPD, while the second odd circumstance ended after individuals were seen crawling out and leaving in a vehicle more than two and a half hours after. —Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 4 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