Definition of Half life

1. Noun. The time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance to disintegrate).

Exact synonyms: Half-life
Generic synonyms: Period, Period Of Time, Time Period

Lexicographical Neighbors of Half Life

half cross stitch
half crown
half cut
half cystine
half dollar
half door
half dozen
half eagle
half forward
half gainer
half glove
half gross
half hatchet
half hitch
half hitches
half life (current term)
half lit
half marathon
half marathons
half mask
half measure
half mile
half nelson
half nelsons
half nephew
half niece
half note
half notes
half orphan
half orphans

Literary usage of Half life

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story by Andrei Maylunas (2005)
"The half-life of Penk mRNA levels (about 12 h), however, seems not to be affected by histamine as suggested by measurement of the subsequent decay of Penk ..."

2. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1903)
"The relationship of body weight to disappearance half-life was examined in each cir- rhotic subject by linear regression analysis. ..."

3. Potential Groundwater Contamination from Intentional and Nonintentional by Robert Pitt, Shirley Clark, Keith Parmer (1994)
"The volatilization half-life of BCEE in streams was estimated to be about 4 ... The overall half-life of BCIE was estimated to vary between 3 and 30 days in ..."

4. Fission Gas Behaviour in Water Reactor Fuels: Seminar Proceedings, Cadarache by OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (2002)
"At the end of irradiation, 242Cm (half-life of 163 days) accounts for ... After this, the plutonium isotopes with long lifetimes - 239Pu (half-life: 24 110 ..."

5. Oxygen/Nitrogen Radicals and Cellular Injury edited by Kenneth B. Adler, Robert D. Devlin, Val Vallyathan (2000)
"IL-4 Prolongs iNOS mRNA Half-Life in Human Airway Epithelial Cells IL-4 inhibits iNOS expression in some studies and induces 'NO production in other studies ..."

6. Mount Omi and Beyond: A Record of Travel on the Thibetan Border by Archibald John Little (1901)
"... from our Coolies—Thousand Buddhas Precipice— Figures half Life Size—Indian Type—Bamboos acting as Sounding- boards—Thirteen-storied Pagoda—Junction with ..."

7. The Three Gifts of Life: A Girl's Responsibility for Race Progress by Nellie May Smith (1913)
"Usually these little half-lives are lost; but if one meets the sperm, or male half-life, before leaving the womb, and unites with it, from that moment the ..."

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