by half

English

Prepositional phrase

by half

  1. (colloquial) By far; by a long chalk; to an excessive extent or degree, especially to the extent that it is negative, gets in the way, etc.
    Little Miss Smartyboots is too clever by half.

Usage notes

  • Used in constructs like too ... by half and not ... enough by half.

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.