hyphen
/ˈhaɪfən/
noun
- A short horizontal line (-) used to join words or parts of words, as in 'well-known' or 'mother-in-law'.
- The editor added a hyphen to make the phrase 'high-quality' correct.
- In the word 'twenty-one', the hyphen connects the two numbers.
- Remember to use a hyphen when writing compound words like 'part-time'.
verb
- To join or separate words with a hyphen.
- The style guide says to hyphen 're-cover' to avoid confusion with 'recover'.
- She learned to hyphen words correctly when writing formal reports.
- Please hyphen the compound adjective before the noun.