HALF-LIFE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does half-life mean? 

• HALF-LIFE (noun)
  The noun HALF-LIFE has 1 sense:

1. 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)

  Familiarity information: HALF-LIFE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HALF-LIFE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

half-life; half life

Hypernyms ("half-life" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

 Context examples 

Otamixaban has a short half-life of 1.5 to 3 hours.

(Otamixaban, NCI Thesaurus)

Due to the addition of two carbohydrate chains, darbepoetin alfa exhibits a three-fold greater half-life than does erythropoietin.

(Darbepoetin alfa, NCI Thesaurus)

Inhibition of cytidine deaminase increases the biological half-life of cytidine-containing compounds.

(Cytidine Deaminase Inhibitor, NCI Thesaurus)

Compared with other copper radionuclides, the short half-life of copper Cu 62 (9.7 minutes) reduces the amount of radiation a patient is subjected to and allows for several imaging studies to be performed.

(Copper Cu 62-PTSM, NCI Thesaurus)

Monoclonal antibody 9.2.27 FAB exhibits improved tumor localization and a shorter half-life than the complete antibody.

(Monoclonal Antibody 9.2.27 F(ab), NCI Thesaurus)

This agent may have a longer half-life in vivo than conventional monoclonal antibodies.

(Otlertuzumab, NCI Thesaurus)

Navuridine exhibits a relatively short half-life and incomplete oral bioavailability and has not been developed into a clinical drug.

(Navuridine, NCI Thesaurus)

Protein ubiquitination regulates the half-lives of many proteins by targeting them for degradation.

(Deubiquitinating Enzyme, NCI Thesaurus)

Compared to sulfonylureas, meglitinides, in general, have a more rapid onset of action and a shorter half-life.

(Meglitinide Antidiabetic Agent, NCI Thesaurus)

Mespirenone has a short half-life and is metabolized completely into active metabolites.

(Mespirenone, NCI Thesaurus)