Under a franchise arrangement, a person or company purchases the ability to run a local business under a larger company's brand. Depending on the franchise arrangement, the local party may have to meet certain standards established by the larger company and purchase products from the larger company as well.
Half-cock is when the position of the hammer is partially but not completely cocked.
half-life. The period in which the radioactivity or number of atoms of a radioactive substance decreases by half; similarly applied to any substance, such as a drug in serum, whose quantity decreases exponentially with time. Compare: half-time.