How to Use half-life in a Sentence

half-life

noun
  • Its half-life can range from about one hour to up to five days.
    — Ayesha Gulzar, Verywell Health, 25 Aug. 2025
  • But if anger has a long half-life in this book, then so does love.
    — Giles Harvey, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
  • But technetium-99m has a very short half-life, just six hours or so.
    — Chris Baraniuk, WIRED, 27 Nov. 2024
  • But the short half-life of 26Al means this growth had to be quick.
    — Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2016
  • Caffeine has a half-life of roughly five to six hours but can stay in your body longer.
    — Elizabeth Barnes, Verywell Health, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Those close to Khong marvel at the long half-life of her short stories.
    — Mariella Rudi, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Drugs can have different half-lives, with some ranging from a few hours to days.
    — Phuoc Anh (anne) Nguyen, Pharmd, Ms, Verywell Health, 17 July 2024
  • Klonopin, on the other hand, has a half-life of between twenty and eighty hours.
    — P.e. Moskowitz september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Delta 8 has a half-life that ranges from 4 to 12 hours based on these factors.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2023
  • For the average person, caffeine has a half-life of about five hours.
    — Carley Millhone, Health, 4 Oct. 2025
  • His efforts to blame everyone else for his own failures are sure to have a very short half-life.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2025
  • So, Lynch asks, what if dark matter has a half-life of roughly a billion years?
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2025
  • But still, David and I walk parallel paths in the long half-life of loss.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Apr. 2026
  • The good news is that phthalates have a short half-life and leave the body within a few days, experts said.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Voters’ minds are fleeting and blame has a quick half-life in Washington.
    — Philip Elliott, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025
  • All uranium is radioactive, and each isotope has its own unique half-life.
    — Kathryn Higley, The Conversation, 16 June 2023
  • Classic-film cable and streaming services have tended to have short half-lives.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2023
  • Here’s what to know about caffeine’s half-life, plus the amount of caffeine found in your favorite coffee orders.
    — Jillian Kubala, Health, 2 June 2025
  • Uranium has been a hot commodity, and its rally could have a long half-life.
    — Jinjoo Lee, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2024
  • But even materials with long half-lives can be hazardous over longer periods of time.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 June 2025
  • Key Takeaways Nicotine has a half-life of about two hours and can stay in the blood for about one to three days.
    — Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Most of the chemicals that were released in the derailment have a short half-life, Booth said.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Its half-life is a staggering 432 years, five times longer than plutonium-238.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Iodine radioisotopes have half-lives that span from a tenth of a second to 16 million years.
    — Andrea Richard, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
  • The mobile space race and its half-life have significantly reduced.
    — Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • Cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, has a half-life of 18 hours and can last for several days.
    — Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Image Celebrity status has a half-life, especially when much of your fan base consists of teenage boys.
    — Bruce Schoenfeld, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025
  • To conduct and study chemical reactions, researchers require an element with a half-life of at least half a second.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 14 May 2024
  • Are they doomed to live half-lives, gauged in literal length or internal fulfillment, always under the thumb of one boss or another?
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Cesium 137 is highly soluble in water and has a half-life of 30 years, Alkis says.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'half-life.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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