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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



... John Wingfield, of the Guards, who died of a fever at Coimbra (May 14, 1811). I had known him ten years, the better half of his life, and the happiest part of mine. In the short space of one month I have lost her who gave me being, and most of those who had made that being tolerable. To me the lines of Young are ...
— The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 2 • George Gordon Byron
... this evening, you two," the "Old Man" was saying, a few minutes later. He had been home long enough to consult the "Commanding General," as he frequently referred to that smiling better half, and to compare notes as to the condition of the larder and cellar. He had flung conventionality to the winds, as most of us had to in early Arizona days. "You others," he said, "have suffered so often from my steaks and stories, you're glad not to ...
— Tonio, Son of the Sierras - A Story of the Apache War • Charles King
... of the speakers at the Boston anniversaries, in May, 1866. Colonel Higginson, in alluding to his personal services, said he would tell of his better half. When Colonel Hawley went as commander of the Seventh Connecticut to Port Royal, to do his share of conquering and to conquer, he took with him a thousand bayonets on one side, and a Connecticut woman with her school-books on the other (applause). Where he planted ...
— Woman's Work in the Civil War - A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience • Linus Pierpont Brockett
... when Reuben goes to reconnoitre the place of his buried treasure, he finds all safe, and taking the better half of the fruit, he marches away with a proud step to the Elderkin house. The basket is for Phil. But Phil is not at home; so he leaves the gift, and a message, with a short story of it all, with the tender Rose, whose eyes dance with girlish admiration at this stammered tale of his, and her fingers ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 92, June, 1865 • Various
... or, conversely, as the Russian traveller, pursued by wolves, flings away his children, that he may escape himself; so the captured lizard, as a last resource, casts off its tail, and leaves it, wriggling, to attract the captor’s attention, while its own bodily “better half” seeks safety ...
— Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood - Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter • J. Conway Walter


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