▪ I. halfpennyworth, n.
(ˈheɪpənɪwɜːθ)
Contracted ha'p'orth, ha'porth (ˈheɪpəθ). Also: α. 1 healfpeniᵹwurþ, 5 halpenyworth, 6 halpynworth. β. 5 halpworthe, 6 halporth, 7 half-p-worth, halfperth, 8 halp'worth, halfporth, 8–9 ha'p'worth, (dial. hawporth).
[See worth.]
As much as a halfpenny will purchase; hence, a very small quantity.
| α a 1035 Laws of Cnut xii. (Thorpe) I. 366 Leoht ᵹesceot..healf-peniᵹ-wurð wexes æt ælcere hide. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 598/26 Obolatus, an halfpeny worth. 1479 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 425 To serue the pouere people of penyworthes and halfpenyworthes. 1519 Presentm. of Juries in Surtees Misc. (1888) 32 A halpynworthe off hale for a halpney. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 591. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 47 ¶7 To buy a Half-peny worth of Incle at a Shoemaker's. |
| β c 1490 Promp. Parv. 224/1 Halpeny worthe..(K. halpworthe), obolitas, oblata. 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 132/2, I would wishe none heretike one halporth harme, that had clerely left his heresy. 1692 Southerne Wives Excuse i. i, Three halfperth of farthings. 1719 T. Gordon Cordial Low Spirits I. 142 Wearing out three Pens, and exhausting a Halfp'worth of Ink in her Service. 1728 Swift Past. Dial. Wks. 1755 III. ii. 203 A longer ha'p'orth never did I see. 1738 ― Pol. Conversat. 169 Bring us a Halfporth of Cheese. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. v, A penny loaf and a ha'porth of milk. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap iii. 734 Haste and secure that ha'p'worth, on your life! |
b. to lose the ship (orig. and prop. sheep, ewe, hog) for a halfpennyworth of tar: to lose an object, spoil an enterprize or court failure, by trying to save in a small matter of detail.
Originally referring to the use of tar to protect sore places or wounds on sheep from the destructive attacks of flies. (Sheep is dialectally pronounced ship over a great part of England.)
| 1631 Capt. Smith Advt. Planters 30 Rather..to lose ten sheepe, than be at the charge of a halfe penny worth of Tarre. 1670 Ray Proverbs 103 Ne're lose a hog for a half-penny-worth of tarre [ed. 1678 154 adds Some have it, lose not a sheep, &c. Indeed tarr is more used about sheep then swine.]. 1672 J. Phillips Maronides vi. 22 And judge you now what fooles those are, Will lose a Hog for a ha'porth of tar. [1705 J. Spruel in J. Smith Mem. Wool (1747) II. 66 So as the Proverb is verified, many a Time, we lose the Hog for the Halfpenny.] 1828 Craven Dial., Hawporth, ‘Dunnut loaz t' yow for a hawporth o' tar’. 1869 Hazlitt Eng. Proverbs 431 ‘To spoil the ship for a half-pennyworth of tar.’ Note. But in Cornwall I heard a version..more consistent with probability, ‘Don't spoil the sheep for a ha'porth of tar’. 1891 Review of Reviews IV. 576/1 To sink the ship by the refusal of the traditional ha'porth of tar. |
▪ II. † ˈhalfpennyworth, v. Obs.
[f. prec. n.]
1. intr. To ‘stick at’ halfpence; to haggle about minute expenses.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World v. vi. §4. 855 Their halfpenny worthing in matter of Expence when they had adventured their whole Estate in the purchase of a great Empire. |
2. trans. To deal out by halfpennyworths.
| 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke 14 He having open'd the whole Pedlers-pack of his malice, which he half-p-worths out..to his petty Chapmen. |