hyphen

hy·phen | \ ˈhī-fən

How to pronounce hyphen (audio)

\

Definition of hyphen

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a punctuation mark - used especially to divide or to compound words, word elements, or numbers

hyphen

hyphened; hyphening; hyphens

Definition of hyphen (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

Other Words from hyphen Example Sentences Learn More about hyphen

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of hyphen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun By the end of the 2019 season, Davis had lost one hyphen and gained a new title: All-American. — Nathan Baird, cleveland, "Ohio State football’s Josh Myers can have a Wyatt Davis-like breakout in 2020: Buckeye Take," 6 June 2020 Where our economy presumes the supremacy of profit, the hyphen situates the worker and owners as true equals. — Vanessa A. Bee, The New Republic, "A Quiet Workplace Revolution in the Shadow of Silicon Valley," 3 June 2020 To avoid detection, messages sent by Amazon sales reps stayed generic and frequently used hyphens or periods between letters to describe the rival company, including a-m-a-z-o-n or A.M.Z.N., the cease-and-desist letter alleges. — Laura Stevens, WSJ, "EBay Accuses Amazon of Illegally Poaching Sellers," 3 Oct. 2018 Balliol authorities seemed not to find this amusing, even with the coy little hyphens. — Washington Post, "Style Invitational Week 1372: Trash talk, 1880-style," 20 Feb. 2020 Here is what the wrathful fought about recently: Does the president know what a hyphen is? — Abby Ohlheiser, Washington Post, "We can’t impeach the Internet, so buckle up," 3 Oct. 2019 So many plays have tried employing profanity in their titles that The New York Times’s standards editor, Philip B. Corbett, finally had to weigh in with an explanation about all the hyphens and euphemisms put into service. — Eric Grode, New York Times, "From ‘Sex’ to ‘Superstar,’ 10 Plays That Caused a Stir," 11 Sep. 2019 Here’s another: Hilderbrand puts the hyphen in Durgin-Park, and no editor in New York excised it. — David Shribman, BostonGlobe.com, "Tuned in to the ‘Summer of ’69’," 22 Aug. 2019 Actress and writer Casey Wilson has added another hyphen to her ever-expanding career, as a first time director of a short accepted into this year’s Toronto International Film Festival titled Daddio. — Marcus Jones, EW.com, "Casey Wilson talks directing a short about her eccentric father, and the future of Bitch Sesh," 8 Sep. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Normally, closed caption subtitling bleeps words in a variety of different ways: phrases, such as (bleep), [expletive], or [censored] may be used, though sometimes hyphens or asterisks are substituted instead (f–k, f---, or f*** are all examples. — Ace Ratcliff, SELF, "I Rely On Closed Captions to Enjoy a Show And I Don't Appreciate Netflix's Way of Censoring Them," 10 July 2018

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.

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

frisson

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.