Definition

1. Noun:
   • A period of thirty minutes: "half-hour" refers to a time duration equal to one half of an hour, or thirty minutes.

Usage

• The word "half-hour" is a countable noun. It is often used with an article ("a," "the") or a possessive pronoun ("my," "your").
• It is commonly used to specify a duration of time, such as for meetings, breaks, travel, or activities.
• It can function as a noun phrase on its own or be used attributively before another noun (e.g., "a half-hour walk").

Examples

• Noun:
  • The meeting was delayed by a half-hour.
  • I take a half-hour break every afternoon.
  • The documentary will start in half an hour. (Note: In this common adverbial phrase, "half an hour" is used without a hyphen.)

Advanced Usage

• "On the half-hour": This phrase means at times such as 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, etc. It indicates that an event happens at 30 minutes past each hour.
  • The news bulletin is broadcast on the half-hour.

Variants and Related Words

• Half-hourly (adj/adv): Occurring every thirty minutes.
  • There is a half-hourly bus service to the city center.
• Half an hour: The more common spoken form when used after a preposition (e.g., "in," "for," "after"). It is synonymous with "a half-hour" but is not hyphenated in this construction.

Synonyms

• Thirty minutes: The literal equivalent in time measurement.

Related Phrases

• Every half-hour: At intervals of thirty minutes.
  • The train departs every half-hour.

Noun

1. a half of an hour