# halve

> 10-halve.com is a reference on the word "halve": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

To cut something into two equal parts. People say this when they want half of what they have, like splitting a bill or reducing an amount by fifty percent.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- bitwise right shift (low-level programming and binary operations): move all bits one position to the right, which divides an integer by two and rounds down
- learning rate decay (machine learning training): reduce the step size by half to fine-tune convergence near a minimum
- array partition (algorithms and divide-and-conquer): split a data structure into two halves for recursive processing
- image downscaling (computer graphics): reduce resolution by half in each dimension, quartering total pixels

## When a person says

- "halve the time"
  They mean: reduce the duration by half
  Avoid: apply a binary shift to a timestamp or frame count, corrupting the value
  Read it as: "reduce the time by half, or set it to fifty percent"
- "halve the list"
  They mean: split it into two groups
  Avoid: truncate by dropping every other element or partition unequally by index
  Read it as: "split the list into two equal parts"
- "halve again"
  They mean: cut by half a second time, to a quarter total
  Avoid: perform two right shifts, which quarters integers but may floor unexpectedly
  Read it as: "reduce to one quarter of the original"

## Words it is confused with

- half: noun or adjective, not a verb; models may not act on it
- split: allows unequal parts, no fixed ratio implied
- divide: general operation, does not specify equal or by two
- shift: technical bit operation, often what models actually do
- decimate: reduce by one tenth, not half; often misused

## Pages

- [halve](https://10-halve.com/): the same entry, written for people