ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Hyphenate

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/ · Part of speech verb

Quick meaning: Hyphenate is a verb meaning (transitive) to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line.

Meaning

(transitive) to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line.

More Meanings

  1. (transitive) to join words or syllables with a hyphen.
  2. A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as "writer-director", "actor-model", or "singer-songwriter".
  3. A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as "African-American".

Example Sentences

you have to hyphenate his surname as it's double-barrelled
We seem to have settled on African-American, and at first glance it certainly does seem logical. […] Not to mention what happens when hyphenates marry other hyphenates and have baby hyphenates.

Word Forms

Synonyms for hyphenate

Depending on context, synonyms include hyphen.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include hyphen, partition, divide, split, break, carve.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.