a halfway house

halfway house

1. A housing facility that provides treatment and rehabilitation services to people overcoming disabilities or addictions. Once the halfway house helps Mark recover from his heroin addiction, he'll be able to return to his hometown and move forward with his life.
2. A combination of two different things. That restaurant is a halfway house between a burger joint and a sushi bar. Weird, right?
3. The center point of a trip or journey. To prevent us from becoming too tired on the long drive, we decided to stop at a halfway house to get some rest.
See also: halfway, house
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a halfway house

BRITISH
A halfway house is something that has some features of one thing and some of another. A halfway house between the theatre and cinema is possible. The place was a sort of halfway house between a prison and a care home. Note: A halfway house was an inn located halfway between two neighbouring towns or villages and would have been used by coach passengers in former times. The name is still seen on pubs and inns.
See also: halfway, house
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a halfway house

1 a compromise. 2 the halfway point in a progression. 3 a place where ex-prisoners, mental patients, etc. can stay while they become reaccustomed to normal life.
In the late 18th century, a halfway house was an inn or other establishment halfway between two places or at the midpoint of a journey.
See also: halfway, house
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

a ˌhalfway ˈhouse


1 a place where prisoners, mental patients, etc. can stay for a short time after leaving a prison or hospital, before they start to live on their own again: We’re opening several halfway houses for people who’ve been in this hospital.
2 something that combines the features of two plans, wishes, etc: We really wanted to build a completely new hospital, but we didn’t have the money, so this extension is a kind of halfway house.A halfway house was originally a place such as an inn (= a pub where you can stay the night) that was halfway between two places, or in the middle of a journey.
See also: halfway, house
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • halfway house
  • split the difference
  • house
  • swap over
  • get untracked
  • up and
  • up and (do something)
  • up and did
  • up and leave, go, etc.
  • squiff out
References in periodicals archive
A federal prisoner filed a petition for habeas corpus relief alleging that the federal Bureau of Prison's new regulation, which would delay his release to a halfway house until only ten percent of his sentence remained, violated the notice and comment provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
Colton v. Ashcroft
The institution at issue is a halfway house run by Faith Works, an evangelical Christian group that includes a heavy dose of religion in its activities.
"The state in effect gives eligible offenders 'vouchers' that they can use to purchase a place in a halfway house, whether the halfway house is 'parochial' or secular," he wrote.
Court upholds voucher aid to 'faith-based' group. (Around the States)
In particular, they have not been adequately informed about the purpose and function of a halfway house, the populations who reside in these facilities, and the services they provide to offenders.
By and large, offenders return to their communities whether they return though a halfway house or not.
Citizen engagement in managing offender reentry: The case for community correctional facilities. (State and Municipal Management)
DAVID CRONENBERG'S SPIDER stars Ralph Fiennes as a mentally disturbed man whose web of defenses unravels when he's transferred from an asylum to a halfway house in the squalid East End London neighborhood where he lived as a child.
Webbed wonder. (Film)
Margaret Stanowski, Operation Springboard's executive director, indicated in a public statement that she is "gravely concerned about the potential threat to community safety these closures could represent." She stressed that it is known that "offenders are twice as likely to remain crime free when released directly through a halfway house than when directly released from prison to the street."
Ontario changes direction
On recommendation from his doctor, David immediately goes to live in a halfway house for one month, to assist him in making the transition from the hospital to community life.
Deducting special care facilities and educational costs as medical expenses
A defendant who had been ordered to reside in a halfway house following his arrest but failed to return after a day of work, pled guilty to escape.
U.S. v. Sack
A taxpayer group sought to enjoin state authorities from funding a halfway house that incorporated Christianity into its treatment program, alleging that such funding constituted establishment of religion.
Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. McCallum
The sentencing judge had ordered the offender to be imprisoned for forty-six months, followed by three years of supervised release, the first three months of which was to be spent in a halfway house. The court reconsidered its sentence and concluded that it did not have the authority under federal law to order halfway house confinement as a condition of supervised release.
U.S. v. Mills
A prisoner serving a federal sentence brought a civil rights action against the director of a halfway house alleging that his return to prison from the halfway house was in retaliation for his request that his religious beliefs be accommodated.
U.S. District Court: RETALIATION
A student intern at a halfway house for sex offenders was terminated for giving a television interview that was critical of a proposed policy change at the facility.
U.S. Appeals Court: FREE SPEECH