half term

See also: half-term

English

Alternative forms

• half-term

Noun

half term (plural half terms)

1. (UK) A short school holiday in the middle of the term.
   • 1979, SWT, Social Work Today:

     I have just visited him at his mother's home where he is spending half term and we reminisced while looking at his photo album.

   • 2011, Marcia Willett, Hattie's Mill, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Georgia's not a very good correspondent, which is perfectly reasonable at her age, but she didn't come down for half term and then she didn't come for Easter either.

   • 2011, Patricia Fenn, Poseidon's Trident, Andrews UK Limited, →ISBN:

     “Good idea. The boy seems to be coping quite well, although I had a feeling he wasn't too happy about spending half term in Crete with his old grandpa."

   • 2020 June 3, Sam Mullins OBE discusses with Stefanie Foster, “LTM: a new chapter begins at 40”, in Rail, page 54:

     "We had an extraordinary February half term - I think we had 22,000 visitors in the seven days. Which actually is a bit like bedlam at times."

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see half,‎ term.