time frame
noun
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time frame or timeframe?
Should time frame be written as one word or two? At present, it is most commonly styled as two words with no hyphen in between.
Compounds, or “words consisting of components that are words,” come in three varieties: open (two words with a space between them, such as lima bean), hyphenated (two words with a hyphen between them, such as runner-up), and closed (one word, such as rowboat). In some cases, competing compound stylings appear in different publications. This is generally acceptable as long as the spelling remains consistent throughout a book or periodical.
Compounds have a tendency to move from open to closed as time goes by, and our evidence suggests that time frame is headed in this direction. At this point, however, the open compound is far more prevalent.
Examples of time frame in a Sentence
William Tong, Dallas Morning News, 6 Feb. 2026
Senate Bill 1 also establishes the time frame for Medicaid eligibility redeterminations, and requires the secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration to transmit certain information to the federal government to prevent multiple state Medicaid enrollment.
—Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2026
However, that's still a pretty close time frame.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Also, the cold weather is forecast to get much worse from Sunday, with temperatures dropping even further and making the time frame for a pause in attacks hard to understand.
—Arkansas Online, 31 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for time frame
Cite this Entry
“Time frame.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20frame. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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