Dictionary

half-staff en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (Canada, Philippines, US, sometimes) Half-mast.
   • Marshal Joseph Pilsudski, Poland's man of power, died here tonight. . . . Flags were lowered to half staffs. 1935 May 13, “Ninth Anniversary of Coup”, in New York Times, page 6:
   • [T]he agents of the steamship lines drowned their sorrow in rum and ran the house flags to half-staff. c. 1900, Richard Harding Davis, Billy and the Big Stick:
   • [T]he flags at Ottawa fire stations were lowered to half-staff in tribute. 2008 August 5, “Two men electrocuted fixing flat on firetruck”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 29 Aug 2011:
   • President Bush's decision to honor Pope John Paul II by ordering flags lowered to half-staff on all public buildings has reignited a debate about the separation of church and state. 2005 April 6, Felisa Cardona, “Flag order spurs controversy”, in Denver Post, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2016, retrieved 29 Aug 2011, page B-01:

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