biweekly

1 of 2

adjective

bi·week·ly (ˌ)bī-ˈwē-klē

: occurring every two weeks : fortnightly

: occurring twice a week

biweekly adverb

What do bimonthly and biweekly mean?: Usage Guide

Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from two different senses of bi-: "occurring every two" and "occurring two times." This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary. The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear. So if you need bimonthly or biweekly, you should leave some clues in your context to the sense of bi- you mean. And if you need the meaning "twice a," you can substitute semi- for bi-. Biannual and biennial are usually differentiated.

biweekly

2 of 2

noun

: a publication issued every two weeks

: semiweekly

Example Sentences

Adjective The biweekly mortgage loan was started in Canada and is now offered by lenders in the United States. This loan is similar to the standard fixed-rate loan except for the frequency of payments. Instead of making one monthly payment, the borrower makes a payment equal to one-half of the normal monthly payment every two weeks …

Stephen R. Mettling et al., Modern Residential Financing Methods, 1990 Last week ABC brought back Dick Cavett … and introduced syndicated newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin as Cavett's biweekly alternate (Thursday and Fridays).

Harry Waters, Newsweek, 6 Oct. 1986 She attends biweekly classes and studies at the library every Saturday.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Weekend Projects at Arlington Garden, a biweekly program where volunteers work on necessary projects at the garden while learning about regenerative gardening and the natural world from 9 a.m. to noon at 275 Arlington Dr. in Pasadena.

Jeanette Marantosstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2022 Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love writes a biweekly column that takes you behind the scenes at The Enquirer.

The Enquirer, 24 Nov. 2022 Hosted by Alex Pareene and Laura Marsh, The Politics of Everything explores the intersection of culture, media, and politics in biweekly interviews with scholars and journalists.

The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 16 Nov. 2022 Oway is a biweekly publication that specializes in reporting on youth issues and politics and does in-depth features such as profiles of striking food delivery workers and attrition within the army.

Sui-lee Wee, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2022 Ayla received six biweekly infusions that started at about 24 weeks of gestation.

Time, 10 Nov. 2022 Hosted by Alex Pareene and Laura Marsh, The Politics of Everything explores the intersection of culture, media, and politics in biweekly interviews with scholars and journalists.

The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 2 Nov. 2022 The cost-of-living increase as originally written would have gone into effect midway through the pay period for UDC employees since the adjustment was conceived with the biweekly pay schedule in mind.

Hau Chu, Washington Post, 25 July 2022 The retailer will also launch Anytime Pay, a platform that will enable employees to get 70% of their paychecks paid to them sooner than their biweekly pay period.

Jasmine Browley, Essence, 6 Oct. 2022

Noun

Alternatively, Copper Valley Air offers biweekly flights from Anchorage and Gulkana to McCarthy (907-822-4200).

Bailey Berg, Anchorage Daily News, 28 May 2020 After the webinars, kids can work on and submit entries for the biweekly challenge.

Shannon Sutlief, Dallas News, 21 May 2020 That could mean proposing a weekly email update every Friday morning or a biweekly video call.

Kathryn Vasel, CNN, 5 May 2020 In case the meaning wasn’t clear, Bjork addressed the subject in response to a question on his biweekly media teleconference Tuesday.

Chuck Carlton, Dallas News, 5 May 2020 FireEye, which previously focused much of its lobbying on Pentagon spending, has begun holding biweekly briefings that encourage remote Hill staffers to keep cybersecurity threats top of mind during the public-health crisis, Ms. O’Mara said.

James Rundle And David Uberti, WSJ, 4 May 2020 More than $400 per biweekly paycheck — about a quarter of her after-tax income — has been siphoned off by Johns Hopkins University for unpaid medical bills at one of its hospitals.

Alec Macgillis, ProPublica, 28 Apr. 2020 My life revolves around talk shows, late-night shows, and biweekly trash collections.

Kimberly Zapata, Health.com, 22 Apr. 2020 Before the stimulus checks, the government took about $300 from his biweekly paycheck for child support.

Jessica Menton, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biweekly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.