How to Use half-staff in a Sentence

half-staff

noun
  • In Dauphin, where most of the bus riders are from, flags were flown at half-staff.
    Rob Gillies, ajc, 16 June 2023
  • The flag on the roof of the White House is lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of the Maine shootings.
    Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 26 Oct. 2023
  • Half-mast refers to flags flown on ships, while half-staff is used for flags flown on land.
    Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 20 June 2024
  • To position the flag at half-staff, place the flag one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff.
    Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023
  • When flown at half-staff, the flag should be raised to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position.
    Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023
  • The college’s flag will be flown at half-staff this week in his memory.
    Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023
  • Biden ordered flags across the country to be flown at half-staff through Thursday.
    Michael Williams, Dallas News, 8 May 2023
  • Flags were lowered to half-staff outside the Murcia City Hall.
    Edward Szekeres, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2023
  • Biden ordered the American flag at the White House to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.
    Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2023
  • What's the difference between half-mast and half-staff?
    Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 11 Apr. 2023
  • President Bill Clinton flew the White House flags at half-staff.
    Jessica Sager, Peoplemag, 14 July 2023
  • To honor Rosalynn Carter's legacy, the White House ordered flags to be flown at half-staff.
    Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Flags across Idaho will fly at half-staff in memory of Rep. Sue Chew.
    Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 18 Apr. 2024
  • Grief also gripped the rest of the country, where flags were lowered to half-staff and schoolchildren said prayers to honor the dead.
    Ap, Bloomberg.com, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset on Friday.
    Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 25 Apr. 2024
  • In a statement Monday, Newsom said flags at the state Capitol would be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.
    Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Joe Biden announced Monday that the United States flag would be lowered to half-staff in honor of the six victims.
    Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Justice ordered all flags statewide be flown at half-staff in honor of Maynard.
    CBS News, 2 June 2023
  • The Saudi flag is never flown at half-staff at times of national mourning anywhere in the world.
    Aimee Look, CNN, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Within an hour of his death, fire stations in Gresham and Portland lowered their flags to half-staff.
    oregonlive, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Biden later ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff on all federal buildings through March 31.
    Jonathan Matisse and Travis Loller, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Flags on official buildings will be flown at half-staff and a minute’s silence will be observed at noon.
    Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Flags at the business were flown at half-staff on Monday, and each of the teens’ photos were displayed at a memorial outside.
    Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 28 June 2023
  • Flags in Ohio and nationwide will be flown at half-staff until sunset Friday, March 31.
    Emily Deletter, The Enquirer, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Flags are at half-staff in Ohio this week following a mass shooting that left eight people dead and seven injured in Allen, Texas.
    Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 10 May 2023
  • Biden ordered flags flown at half-staff through Thursday in recognition of the shooting victims.
    Jack Douglas, Devlin Barrett, Marisa Iati, Bryan Pietsch, Brittany Shammas, Maham Javaid, Justin Wm. Moyer and Niha Masih, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 8 May 2023
  • The Veneto region declared three days of mourning, and flags were flown at half-staff at government buildings.
    Colleen Barry and Giada Zampano The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2023
  • Members of the clergy also paid their respects and initiated prayers which crowds joined in with flags were lowered to half-staff.
    Sophie Tanno, CNN, 24 Mar. 2024
  • The governor has ordered flags be flown at half-staff until sunset on Friday.
    Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2023
  • Three days of mourning have been declared in Dagestan following the deadly shootings, with state flags lowered to half-staff, Melikov said.
    Darya Tarasova, CNN, 24 June 2024

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

Last Updated: