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ntance; 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. Sir P. Sidney. -- To be better off, to be in a better condition. -- Had better. (See under Had).…

varying in weight and value, usually (those current in England) between a sovereign and a half sovereign. There were also white or silver bezants. [Written also besant, byzant, etc.]

Occurring twice a year; half-yearly; semiannual.

A carbonate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal carbonates; an acid carbonate; -- sometimes called supercarbonate.

A canvas for a portrait measuring 58 by 94 inches. The half bishop measures 45 of 56.

A sulphate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal sulphates; an acid sulphate.

A salt of sulphurous acid in which the base replaces but half the hydrogen of the acid; an acid sulphite.

A salt of tartaric acid in which the base replaces but half the acid hydrogen; an acid tartrate, as cream of tartar.

less; vacant. "Blank and horror-stricken faces." C. Kingsley. The blank . . . glance of a half returned consciousness. G. Eliot.

To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes. Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne. Shak.

The common herring, esp. when of large size, smoked, and half dried; -- called also bloat herring.

ip. To share the blood of Saxon royalty. Sir W. Scott. A friend of our own blood. Waller. Half blood (Law), relationship through only one parent. -- Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood. Bouvier. Peters.

A kind of half boot, named from the Prussian general Blücher. Thackeray.

A house for sheltering boats. Half the latticed boathouse hides. Wordsworth.

r waist or vest forming the upper part of a woman's dress, or a portion of it. Her bodice half way she unlaced. Prior.

of hard wood, from twenty to thirty inches in length, from two to three inches wide, and half or three quarters of an inch thick. When thrown from the hand with a quick rotary motion, it describes very remarkable curves, according to the shape of the instrument and the manner of throwing it, often moving nearly horizo…

A half boot or short boot.

so high as in the overshot wheel, nor so low as in the undershot, but generally at about half the height of the wheel, being kept in contact with it by the breasting. The water acts on the float boards partly by impulse, partly by its weight.

A braid. [R.] Half lapped in glowing gauze and golden brede. Tennyson.

ider distance between the rails than the "standard" gauge of four feet eight inches and a half. See Gauge.