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 these two astronauts pushed through almost six-and-a-half hours of grueling space work to remove the broken antenna before running out of time. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2026

Celebration of life Dunn lived most of her life in Marshall, Missouri, which is about a one-and-a-half hour drive from Kansas City. — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 25 Aug. 2026

Sadly, Jasper is only a supporting player in the first half hour of the movie. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026

Over the course of about a half hour on stage, Shonen Knife fed their Ramones like punk sensibility through a Beach Boys lens, producing a unique brand of jangly, melodic, hooky punk rock complete with gorgeous live harmonies. — Jim Ryan, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 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