half-spade 
half-spade (hiif'spad), n. In her., a bearing 
representing a sharp-pointed spade from which 
one wing of the blade has been cut away. The 
blazon should state to which side the remaining part of 
the blade is turned. Thus, if the spade is palewise, it is 
blazoned "the side of the spade to the sinister or dexter." 
half-spear (hal'spfir). . In lur., a spear with 
a short or truncated handle, used as a bearing. 
half-Step (hat" step), n. In music, a semitone. 
See semitone, step, and tone. 
half-stitch (haf'stich), n. A loose and open 
mesh used iu pillow-lace making, with which a 
pattern is outlined and also a simple kind of 
filling is put in. 
half-stop (haf stop), n. See stop. 
half-strainedt (haf'strand), . Half-bred; im- 
perfect. 
I find I'm but a half-strained villain yet, 
But mungril-mischievous ; for my blood boil'd 
To view this brutal act. Dryden. 
half-Stuff (haf'stuf), n. Any material half 
formed in the process of manufacture ; specifi- 
cally, a partly prepared pulp in paper-making. 
The numerous . . . substances used for paper-making 
are all reduced to the condition of half-stuff' before they 
come to undergo the operation of bleaching. 
Encyc. Brit., III. 821. 
half-suit (hiif'sut), K. The body-armor of the 
seventeenth century. It consisted exclusively of 
breastplate, backpiece, articulated epaulieres, and articu- 
lated tassets, all other iron armor having been abandoned, 
with the exception of an open helmet. 
half-SWOrd (haf ' sord), it. Half a sword's 
length. TO be at naif-sword, to be at close quarters 
in a fight with swords. 
I am a rogue if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of 
them two hours together. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 
I was four several times at half-sword with him, 
Twice stood his partizau. Fletcher, Bonduca, v. 2. 
halft, n. and v. An erroneous form of haf ft. 
half-tangent (haf 'tan'jent), n. The tangent of 
the half-arc. [An improper expression, used 
in chartography.] 
half-terete (haf'te-ret"), a. Iu bot., semicy- 
lindrical : an epithet applied to a long narrow 
body, flat on one side and convex on the other. 
half-thought (haf 'that' ), . A superficial opin- 
ion. Shaftexbnry. 
half-throw (haf'thro), n. Half the stroke or 
movement, as of a valve or a piston. Also 
called half-travel. 
half-tide (haf'tid), . and a. I. n. Half the 
duration of a single tide ; the state of the tide 
when it is half-way between ebb and flood. 
II. a. Half covered by the tide ; washed by 
the waves: as, wet as a half-tide rock: also 
applied to a low-built vessel over which waves 
are Hkelyto break Half-tide dock, weir, etc. See 
the nouns. 
half-timber (haf 'tim'-'ber), n. In skip-building, 
one of the timbers in the cant-bodies which 
correspond to the lower futtocks in the square 
body. 
half-timbered (haf'tim"berd), a. Having the 
foundations and principal supports of stout 
timber, but with all the interstices of the front 
of the building filled in with plaster : applied 
to houses built in a decorative style extensively 
used in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. 
Timbers [in Lisleux] are heavy and solid, and not mean 
and "skimpy," as is unfortunately so often the case with 
our modern attempts at what is technically known as half- 
timbered work. Kng. Him. May., Dec., 1888, p. 199. 
half-timer (hat''t!"mer), . One who works or 
is engaged in doing something only half the 
usual or allotted time ; specifically, in Great 
Britain, a pupil in an elementary school who 
is entitled to partial exemption from atten- 
dance while engaged in some proper employ- 
ment. 
The majority of the scholars from ten to thirteen in 
the Board schools are half-timers. 
Westminster Rev., CXXVIII. 663. 
half -tint (haf 'tint), ii. An intermediate color; 
a middle tint; in painting, a color that is inter- 
mediate between the extreme lights and strong 
shades of a picture. Also half-tone. 
half-title (haf'ti'tl), . The short title of a 
book at the head of the first page of the text ; 
also, the title of any subdivision of a book that 
immediately precedes that subdivision, when 
printed on a full page and in one line. 
half-tone (haf 'ton), . 1. Same as half-tint. 
2. See semitone. 
half-tongue (haf'tung), w. [In Law L. jtirata 
de medietate lingua;, a half -tongue jury.] In 
law, a jury of which one half are aliens, al- 
lowed to an alien who is tried on a criminal 
2689 
charge. Such juries have been abolished in 
England, but are still allowed in some of the 
United States. 
half-trap (haf 'trap), n. A sinking bend in a 
sewer-pipe, in the form of half of the letter S. 
half-travel (fuif'trav*el), n. Same as half- 
throw. 
half-truth (hiif ' troth), . A proposition or 
statement only partly true, or which conveys 
only part of the truth. Mrs. Browning. 
half-Virtue (hat"ver"tu), n. A virtue modified 
by considerations of "prudence or convention- 
ality. 
And those half-virtues which the world calls best. 
Lowell, Comrn. Ode. 
half-way (haf ' wa' ), aid-. In the middle ; at half 
the distance. 
Meets destiny half-way, nor shrinks at death. 
Grantrillc, Irnit. of Chorus in Seneca's Thyetus, ii. 
To meet half-way. See meet. 
half -way (haf ' wa), a. Midway; equidistant 
from the extremes. Half-way covenant, house, 
etc. See the nouns, 
half-wit (haf 'wit' ), n. A weak-minded or idiotic 
person ; also, a dolt ; a blockhead. 
Half-wits are fleas, so little and so light, 
We scarce could know they live, but that they bite. 
Dryden. 
half-witted (haf wif'ed), a. Weak in intellect ; 
idiotic; silly; foolish. 
Jack had passed for a poor, well-meaning, half-untied, 
crack-brained fellow; people were strangely surprised to 
find him in such a roguery. Arbuthnot, Hist. John Bull. 
half-WOrdt;". [ME. halfeword.] A speech con- 
veying an insinuation rather than a direct as- 
sertion; a hint. 
She wolde not fonde 
To holde no wyght in balaunce 
By halfe-worde, ne by countenaunce. 
Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 1022. 
half-yard (haf 'yard'), . Half of a yard; spe- 
cifically, an old ale-measure, one half of the 
ale-yard. 
half-yam (haf'yaru), . Slub which is spun 
into yarn. 
half-year (haf 'yer'), n. A period of six months; 
one half of a calendar year; also, half of a 
school year, whatever its length. 
The Doctor now talking of holiday doings, and then of the 
prospects of the half-year, what chance there was for the 
Balliol scholarship, etc. 
T. Huyhes, Tom Brown at Kugby, ii. 1. 
half-yearly (hiif'yer"li), a. Happening twice 
in a year; semi-annual. 
half-yearly (haf'yer'li), adv. Twice in a year; 
semi-annually. 
halit, a. A Middle English form of holy. 
Haliaetus (hal-i-a'e-tus), n. [NL. (L. haliasetos), 
< Gr. d/uderof, poet. d/um'erof, the 'sea-eagle,' 
prob. the osprey, < aAf, the sea, + aeroc, aierof, 
eagle. ] A genus of f'alconidw, containing eagles 
with bare tarsi ; the earns, sea-eagles, or fishing- 
eagles. The best-known species are the white-tailed 
sea-eagle of Europe, H. altricilla, and the white-headed or 
bald eagle of North America, H. leueocephalu. (See cut 
under eagle. ) A species of wide distribution in Europe and 
Asia is H. leucoryphm. The largest and handsomest of all 
is the Kamtchatkan or pelagic eagle, //. pelagicus, with 14 
tail-feathers instead of the usual 12. (See Thalassoaetug.) 
The African representative is H. vocifer. The Indian, Pon- 
dicherry, or brahminy eagle, formerly H. pondmrianus, is 
now called Ilaliastur indus. 
haliard, . See halyard. 
halibut, holibut (hol'i-but), n. [The second 
form is etymologically better (cf. holiday); 
formerly hallibut; < ME. "halybutte (= D. heil- 
liot = G. heiligbutt, heilbutt, heilbutte), a halibut, 
lit. 'holy (i. e., holiday) plaice,' < ME. Italy, E. 
holy, + butte, a flounder, plaice : see holy and 
but'*. Cf. Sw. helgefl/mdra = Dan. helleflunder, 
a halibut, lit. 'holy flounder'; so named, it is 
thought, from being eaten particularly on holi- 
days (holy days). The sense seems to have 
been lost, and the forms have suffered corrup- 
tion.] A fish of the genus Hippoglossus, H. 
vulgaris, and the largest species of the flatfish 
family or Pleuronectida;. This fish has a compressed 
halidom 
body, one side being colored, the other white, and both 
eyes on the same side of the head. It grows to a great 
size, sometimes weighing from 300 to 400 pounds. It 
forms an article of Ipod, and some parts of the body are 
fat, tender, and delicious. The name is also given to 
various other species of PleuroneetUltn, such as Iteinliardt- 
iun ItipixKjlustniiles, known as the Greenland halibut, and 
ParuttcMhyt < i tit<,i'<n'ni<-u>s t known in California as the 
Monterey halibut and bastard halibut. Circus halibut, 
the common halibut when accidentally variegated with 
black and white. [Local, NewEng.J George's halibut, 
the common halibut taken on Ueorge's Banks. Grand 
Bank halibut, the common halibut taken on the Grand 
Banks. 
halibut-broom (hol'i-but-brom), . A dis- 
gorger for halibut, made of oak, with one end 
flattened and sharpened. 
halibut-slime (hol'i-but-slim), n. A kind of 
sea-anemone found on halibut: so called by 
fishermen, who mistake it for a secretion of 
the fish. 
halibutter, holibutter (hol'i-but-er), n. A 
vessel engaged in the halibut -fishery on the off- 
shore banks ; a halibut-catcher. These vessels 
are clipper-built and schooner-rigged. 
Halichoerus (hal-i-ke'rus), n. [NL., < Gr. dXf, 
the sea, + xoipoq, hog.] A genus of seals, of 
the family Phocidw, the type of which is the 
gray seal, H. gri/phus, having the dental formu- 
la as in Phoca, but the facial region of the skull 
large in comparison with the cranial. Nilsson, 
1820. 
Halichondria (hal-i-kou'dri-a), . [NL., < Gr. 
a/If, the sea, + ;f<!i>oyjof, cartilage.] A genus of 
monactinelline sponges, containing the forms 
known as crumb-of-breud sponge (H. panicea) 
and mermaid' s-ylocc (H. oculata). 
Halichondriidae (hal 'i-kon-dri'i-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Gr. <y.f, the sea, + ^owSpoc, gristle, carti- 
lage.] A group of sponges, Spongidce or Porife- 
ra ; exemplified by the genus Halichondria, con- 
taining many common marine forms which in- 
crust stones, timbers, and seaweeds below the 
tide-mark, and sometimes shoot up into branch- 
ing tufts or tubes. They have no commercial 
value. Also Halichondrice. 
halichondroid (hal-i-kou'droid), . and . [< 
Halichondria + -oid.~] I. a. Resembling a 
sponge of the genus Halichondria; belonging to 
the Halichondriida;. 
A very common Halichondruid sponge of this group 
(Pharetrospougia strahani, Soil.). Encyc. Brit., XXII. 427. 
II. . A sponge of the family Halichondriida!. 
Halicore (ha-lik'6-re), n. [NL., < Gr. a/if, the 
sea, + n6p>i, maid.] 1. The typical genus of 
the family Halicorida;. The male has a pair of large 
straight tusks in the upper jaw (these being rudimentary 
and not exserted in the female), directed forward and 
downward, growing from persistent pulps, enameled, and 
with beveled ends. There are 5 or (i molars in each up- 
per and lower half-jaw, which are not all in position at 
once, the first falling before the last is cut. The skull 
has a long rostrum bent down at right angles with the 
cranial axis, and the front of the lower jaw is likewise de- 
curved. There are 7 cervical, 18 or 19 dorsal, and 30 suc- 
ceeding vertebras ; the tail is emarginate iu the middle 
line, with pointed lateral lobes ; there are no nails on the 
fore limbs ; and the caecum is simple. The genus contains 
the several species of dugong. Duyungiui is a synonym. 
See cuts under dugong and heart. 
2. [I. c.] A species of Halicore ; a dugong. 
Halicoridae (hal-i-kor'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Hali- 
core + -j'r/rt'.] The family of sireniaus of which 
the halicore or dugong is the type. J. E. Gray, 
1825. 
Halictus (ha-lik'tus), . [NL. (Latreille, 1804).] 
A large, wide-spread, and important genus of 
small solitary bees, of the family Andrenida>, 
Halibut (Hififoflossus vutfarit}. 
( From Report of U . S. Fish Commission, 1884. ) 
Halictus flavipts. .Cross shows natural size.) 
containing numerous species, the pregnant fe- 
males of which hibernate. H. parallelus is a 
common American species. 
halidamet, An improper form of halidom. 
Come, we must not again disagree ; but, by my hali- 
dame, 1 think one troubadour roundel worth all that 
Petrarch ever wrote. Bulwer, Rienzi, p. 163. 
halidomt, halidomet (hal' i-dum, -dom ) , . [Ar- 
chaic, pronounced prop,, in first element, as in 
