hyphens

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of hyphen.

   Editors often disagree about where hyphens belong in compound adjectives.

   Long technical phrases sometimes carry several hyphens to keep their meaning clear.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs here. As a noun plural it counts the marks, but the same form also serves as the present-tense verb. The plural carries the noun's figurative reach as well. Hyphens can be small links between two larger things, covered walkways joining two buildings, or people whose identity takes a hyphenated label, such as German-Americans.

2. 2
   verbdated

   Third-person singular simple present of hyphen. Dated; hyphenates is now usual.

   Note

   A dated verb with a living rival: to hyphen something is to hyphenate it, and present-day prose usually reaches for the longer word. It is transitive, so it needs an object, as in "the guide hyphens compound modifiers." It never stands alone, as in "the guide hyphens." When it turns up in older editorial writing, read it simply as hyphenates.

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