0 a way of holding someone's arm from behind with one of your arms and holding their neck with the same hand, so that it is difficult for them to move, used in wrestling (= a sport in which two people fight and try to throw each other to the ground):
She had her opponent's left arm wrapped around the back of her neck in a half nelson.
It is hard to imagine anyone trying a half-nelson on Mr Hall.
What to do with a toddler who won't brush his teeth unless his mother has him in a half nelson?
