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.
1 Absorbed dose: the energy 'deposited' in a kilogram of a substance by a radiation source; measured in an international (SI) unit called the Gray (Gy).  Equivalent dose: relates the absorbed dose to the biological damage of the type of radiation.