English

Adverb

by halves

1. (idiomatic) Partially, incompletely; inadequately, halfheartedly, shoddily.
   • c. 1724, Jonathan Swift, "Punch's Petition to the Ladies":

     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.

   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, ch. 6:

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

   • 1849, Washington Irving, Oliver Goldsmith: A Biography, ch. 26:

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

   • 1901, Ralph Connor, The Man From Glengarry, ch. 6:

     She was too thoroughgoing to do things by halves.

   • 1989 July 30, Larry Rohter, "Theater: In Latin America, Headlines Inspire The Drama," New York Times (retrieved 5 March 2014):

     "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."

   • 2006 Sept. 24, Gareth Chadwick, "Far-flung business: Making all the right moves, The Independent (UK) (retrieved 5 March 2014):

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

Usage notes

• Often used as modifier of a negative form of the verb do, as in:

She does not do things by halves.

Derived terms

• do by halves

References

• by halves at OneLook Dictionary Search