halves

not do anything/things by halves

if you do not do things by halves, you always make a lot of effort and do things very well. 'I didn't realise you were decorating the whole house!' 'Oh, we don't do things by halves round here.'

See also: anything, thing

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do something by halves

to do something without enthusiasm or not completely. He did not do things by halves, and so the rundown farm became a beautiful country estate.

Usage notes: usually used in the negative forms never do something by halves or not do something by halves, as in the example