half and half

• half-and-half

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

half and half (not comparable)

1. In equal parts; half

half and half (not comparable)

1. In two equal parts.

   She ordered her coffee with cream and a splash of half and half.

   They went half and half on the cost of dinner.

   The solution was made of water and milk in equal half and half parts.

half and half (countable and uncountable, plural half and halfs)

1. A mixture of two things, generally in about equal proportions.
   1. (US) A mixture of cream and milk often used in coffee, defined by the US Food and Drug Administration to contain between 10.5% and 18% milk fat.

      Coordinate terms: double double, triple triple

   2. A mixture of two alcoholic beverages, most frequently those brewed from malt, such as porter and ale or mild and bitter beers, in about equal parts; also used for equal parts of an alcoholic beverage and water.
   3. A pizza with two different sets of toppings, one on each half.
   4. A person of mixed race or with dual nationality.
   5. (UK, Ireland) A combination of both rice and chips as an accompaniment to a curry, as opposed to one or the other.
   6. (UK) A combination of beer and ale (or similar alcoholic drinks) in equal quantities.
   7. (slang) Both oral sex and vaginal sex performed in sequence by a prostitute
   8. (US) A mixture of half lemonade and half iced tea.

      Synonym: Arnold Palmer

   9. (Western Canada) A cup of coffee with the equivalent of half a packet of sugar and half a creamer of cream.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:half and half.

• fifty-fifty, go Dutch
• go halfsies, go halves, halfsies
• six of one, half a dozen of the other

• Cream & milk sense legally defined in US government regulations, CFR Title 21, Volume 2, (21CFR131.180), PP 303-304.