: an intermission between halves of a game or contest (as in football or basketball)
: involving or working half the standard hours
half-time
adverb
Examples of halftime in a Sentence
Noun
The score was tied at halftime.
The coaches discussed strategy during halftime.
Recent Examples on the Web
Arkansas Online, 12 Jan. 2026
The first-year head coach praised his players for their gritty performance, coming off two losses and going into halftime down 21-3.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026
Paul Taylor, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2026
Bad Bunny was always meant to perform a Super Bowl half-time show in the next few weeks, entirely in Spanish.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for halftime
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Arkansas, however, strayed away from its identity and quickly fell behind 15 points at halftime.
—Arkansas Online, 12 Jan. 2026
The first-year head coach praised his players for their gritty performance, coming off two losses and going into halftime down 21-3.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
James McAtee, Dilane Bakwa and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all withdrawn at half-time, at a time when Forest trailed 2-0.
—Paul Taylor, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2026
Bad Bunny was always meant to perform a Super Bowl half-time show in the next few weeks, entirely in Spanish.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for halftime
Cite this Entry
“Halftime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halftime. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
halftime
noun
half·time
ˈhaf-ˌtīm 
ˈhȧf-
: an intermission marking the completion of half of a game (as in football)
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
