be at half-mast

be at half-mast

To be partially raised or lowered. The phrase most often describes a flag that has been lowered to honor a recently-deceased person. After our former president died, flags were at half-mast all across the country. When my daughter came home from the park, she was covered in dirt, and her ponytail was at half-mast.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.