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Better half   /bˈɛtər hæf/   Listen
adjective
Better  adj.  (compar. of Good)
1.
Having good qualities in a greater degree than another; as, a better man; a better physician; a better house; a better air. "Could make the worse appear The better reason."
2.
Preferable in regard to rank, value, use, fitness, acceptableness, safety, or in any other respect. "To obey is better than sacrifice." "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes."
3.
Greater in amount; larger; more.
4.
Improved in health; less affected with disease; as, the patient is better.
5.
More advanced; more perfect; as, upon better acquaintance; a better knowledge of the subject.
All the better. See under All, adv.
Better half, an expression used to designate one's wife. "My dear, my better half (said he), I find I must now leave thee."
To be better off, to be in a better condition.
Had better. (See under Had). Note: The phrase had better, followed by an infinitive without to, is idiomatic. The earliest form of construction was "were better" with a dative; as, "Him were better go beside." () i. e., It would be better for him, etc. At length the nominative (I, he, they, etc.) supplanted the dative and had took the place of were. Thus we have the construction now used. "By all that's holy, he had better starve Than but once think this place becomes thee not."


noun
Half  n.  (pl. halves)  
1.
Part; side; behalf. (Obs.) "The four halves of the house."
2.
One of two equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided; sometimes followed by of; as, a half of an apple. "Not half his riches known, and yet despised." "A friendship so complete Portioned in halves between us."
Better half. See under Better.
In half, in two; an expression sometimes used improperly instead of in halves or into halves; as, to cut in half. (Colloq.)
In one's half or On one's half, in one's behalf; on one's part. (Obs.)
To cry halves, to claim an equal share with another.
To go halves, to share equally between two.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Better half" Quotes from Famous Books



... arrived when demands for a recognition of the personal, civil and political rights of one-half—unquestionably the better half—of the people cannot be laughed down or sneered down, and recent indications are that they cannot much longer be voted down. It was quite clear on Friday and Saturday, when petitions from the best citizens of twenty-three States were presented in House ...
— History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III) • Various
... dream of the picturesque days when, as shown in Ujvary's great panorama of the sister towns in 1680, Buda was by far "the better half," and Pesth was a tiny spot. You may visit the tomb of Gul Baba, father of the roses, a shrine of pilgrimage to all good Turks. You may find a good quarter of an hour in the Church of St. Matthias, ...
— Without Prejudice • Israel Zangwill
... the kitchen while her light rolls fer supper was raisin' and got a ruckus fer it," was his mild answer. Dabney lived his connubial life mildly in the midst of the storms of his better half. ...
— The Heart's Kingdom • Maria Thompson Daviess
... ever remain our only wisdom to labour to transform those parts which we judge to be evil into likeness or conformity to those we judge to be good: and surely he who neglects the forces of hope and adoration in that effort, neglects the better half of his practical strength? The central proposition of Christianity, that this end can only be attained by contemplation and imitation of an example, is, we shall in another place (pp. [305-312]) find, maintained as true in regard ...
— Albert Durer • T. Sturge Moore
... jerking his hat over his shoulder in the direction of the door, with an air of perfect confidence in his better half. 'It's ...
— Dombey and Son • Charles Dickens


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