: 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
Jay King, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Mestemaker forced a ball to the sideline, making his second mistake of the night, this time resulting in the game’s first turnover — with defensive end Yamil Talib recording his first career interception and sending the game to halftime tied at 17.
—Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2025
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
After performing at the FIFA Club World Cup half-time show final and dropping Mixteip earlier this summer, J Balvin took the stage at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2025
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Noun
The Celtics committed 10 turnovers before halftime, which helped doom them to an impossibly bad performance in defensive transition.
—Jay King, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Mestemaker forced a ball to the sideline, making his second mistake of the night, this time resulting in the game’s first turnover — with defensive end Yamil Talib recording his first career interception and sending the game to halftime tied at 17.
—Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
To complete the hat-trick just after half-time, one-on-one with the ’keeper, was great.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
After performing at the FIFA Club World Cup half-time show final and dropping Mixteip earlier this summer, J Balvin took the stage at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for halftime
Cite this Entry
“Halftime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halftime. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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halftime
noun
half·time
ˈhaf-ˌtīm 
ˈhȧf-
: an intermission marking the completion of half of a game (as in football)
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