Definition of hyphen
: a punctuation mark - used especially to divide or to compound words, word elements, or numbers
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Recent Examples of hyphen from the Web
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Don’t spell Japanese-American with that hyphen, brother.
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For Mexican Americans, the hyphen — as defined by Theodore Roosevelt and a century’s worth of like-minded American politicians — is always there.
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The computer marked it as a naughty word and substituted it with three hyphens.
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The computer marked it as a naughty word and substituted three hyphens.
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The search function does not allow hyphens, but Kalel is a name given to a couple hundred boys nationwide each year.
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New to my keyboard, and still new-ish to the pages of the Globe, were words like cisgender (meaning not transgender) and bi-gender (which really needs a hyphen in print.
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In 2014 this group splintered from the CPN-M, which has a hyphen; both descend from the CPN (Maoist Centre), now a partner in Nepal’s coalition government.
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There aren’t enough hyphens in the English language to accurately connect all the money-making job titles that Diddy has occupied in his lifetime; his LinkedIn page would need its own Wikipedia page.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hyphen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of hyphen
Late Latin & Greek; Late Latin, from Greek, from hyph' hen under one, from hypo under + hen, neuter of heis one — more at up, same
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: circa 1620
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearOther Grammar and Linguistics Terms
First Known Use of hyphen
1814
Other Grammar and Linguistics Terms
HYPHEN Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of hyphen for English Language Learners
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: a punctuation mark - that is used to connect words or parts of words
HYPHEN Defined for Kids
Definition of hyphen for Students
: a mark - used to divide or to connect words or word elements
Learn More about hyphen
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See words that rhyme with hyphen Spanish Central: Translation of hyphen Nglish: Translation of hyphen for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of hyphen for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hyphen
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