halve

verb

ˈhav 

ˈhäv

halved; halving

transitive verb

1

a

: to divide into two equal parts

b

: to reduce to one half

halving the present cost

c

: to share equally

2

golf : to play (a hole, round, or match) in the same number of strokes as one's opponent

I lost the next two holes to pars, then halved the fourth by missing an easy putt.

—David Owen

Examples of halve in a Sentence

The store is halving the price of many summer items.

Recent Examples on the Web

The developers were able to almost halve the number of Toffoli gates required. — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026

Merz arrived in office in May last year promising to halve the AfD’s vote share –– so far the opposite has been true. — Sebastian Shukla, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2026

But over the last five weeks of the season, that OPS doubled and chase rate nearly halved. — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026

And Yoox achieved growth for the first time since the acquisition, and halved its loss. — David Moin, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from half half

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for halve

• calve
• have
• nav
• mohave

Kids Definition

halve

verb

ˈhav 

ˈhȧv

halved; halving

1

: to divide into two halves

2

: to reduce to one half

halving the cost