hyphenate Hear it!

hyphenate Definition

hy·phen·ate (hī′fə nāt′; for adj., -nit, -nāt′)

transitive verb -·at′ed, -·at′·ing

  1. to connect or separate by a hyphen
  2. to write or print with a hyphen

adjective

hyphenated

noun

a person who has more than one job or function, as in the film industry a producer-director-writer is a Hollywood hyphenate

Etymology: < the use of hyphens to separate job titles

hyphenate Related Forms
hy′·phena′·tion noun
hyphenate Usage Examples

Object

  • word: To avoid excessively wide word spacing, word processors may also hyphenate words at the ends of lines.
  • name: Upon marriage, the bride and groom choose to have a double barrelled or hyphenated name ( see note 2 below ).
  • mike: Posted by newly hyphenated mike on 8 July, 2004 at 10:35 AM Thanks for the sturgeon sympathies.
  • compound: The trouble with English is that we hyphenate some such compounds and not others.

Modifying Another Word

  • n't: TeX wo n't hyphenate a word that's already been hyphenated.
  • not: In manuscript submissions, we prefer that specific ethnicities are capitalized but not hyphenated.
  • newly: Posted by newly hyphenated mike on 8 July, 2004 at 10:35 AM Thanks for the sturgeon sympathies.
  • only: Only hyphenate compass points and fractions if they make a compound, eg southeast England, two-thirds full.
  • usually: Have you noticed that women who spout off about things they do not understand usually hyphenate their last names?
hyphenate Quotes

   In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

—Morrison,Toni Chloe Anthony ne¤  e Wofford