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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



... word!—Why should you speak so contemptibly of the better half of mankind? I'll stand up for the honour ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Vol. II • Edited by Walter Scott
... d'Aspura. It happened to be the same rooms as were occupied twenty-seven years ago by the teacher of languages, to whom I had gone for lessons while I was with Cardinal Acquaviva. The landlady was the wife of a cook who only, slept with his better half once a week. The woman had a daughter of sixteen or seventeen years old, who would have been very pretty if the small-pox had not deprived her of one eye. They had provided her with an ill-made artificial eye, ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
... obvious one was that of the courteous host, flattered to receive such a visitor on any terms, especially proud and cordial in view of the prospect of a connection between the families. He maintained a penitential attitude under the depressing shadow of the absence of his better half, which certainly was made the most of by both; somewhat artificially, a perceptive visitor might have said, if one had been there to see. The jeremiads over this unfortunate misadventure must have lasted fully ten minutes before a lull came; for the gentleman could catch no other wind in his sails, ...
— When Ghost Meets Ghost • William Frend De Morgan
... halves looked on from across the street. Kye had Sym down and was doing some good work with his right, when his wife called to him, "Now, Kye Mayabb, you come right away from there before you get into trouble." Whereupon the valiant better half of him who was being beaten to death called out cheerily, "Don't let him scare you, Sym!" The boys made it up afterward, but our little street was quite lively ...
— The Boss of Little Arcady • Harry Leon Wilson
... future home, may never be your property, and it is right enough that a feeling for ownership should begin to shape your daily life. But let it not misshape it. You know that ownership is not all of life nor the better half of it, and it is quite as good for you to give the fact due recognition by gardening early in life as it was for Adam ...
— The Amateur Garden • George W. Cable


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