Meaning of by halves | Babel Free

Definitions

Partially, incompletely; inadequately, halfheartedly, shoddily.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“Thou fool, I ne'er do things by halves, Farthings are made for Irish slaves; No brass for me, it must be gold, Or fifty pounds in silver told.”

“I have⟳ no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature. My attachments are always excessively strong.”

“Johnson, who, as we have⟳ before remarked, rarely praised or dispraised things by halves, broke forth in a warm eulogy.”

“She was too thoroughgoing to do things by halves.”

“"When things happen⟳ to us in Latin America, it is never by halves. There is no equilibrium, so when it rains, towns get⟳ inundated and disappear⟳, and when we have⟳ a revolution, half the population dies."”

“They don't do things by halves in the States. Whether it is cars, burgers or waistlines, Americans like⟳ to think⟳ bigger.”

CEFR level