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

In Japan, biomass benefits from being eligible for the national feed-in-tariff for renewable energies, and in the UK, authorities have halved subsidies for Drax — the company currently gets nearly £1 billion a year — and will only use the plant as a back-up to cheaper sources of renewable power. —Nithin Coca, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2025

Bridgerton, Wednesday and Squid Game had their most-recent seasons halved. —Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025

This year, that average has been halved, an indication of injuries to the line and predictability that defenses have figured out. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025

China is dealing with entrenched deflation, record youth unemployment, and a real estate market that has halved in just four years. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 16 Oct. 2025

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