American English -- Compound Nouns -- Page 2


Explanation and Discussion In American English Compound Nouns are sometimes hyphenated and sometimes not. No real rules exist but some trends do. Below I have some of the major groups of words and their generalities.

In Words Compound nouns ending in "in" are typically hyphenated. For example:
break-in buy-in cave-in check-in drive-in fill-in lead-in listen-in run-in shoo-in
shut-in sit-in stand-in teach-in tie-in trade-in turn-in walk-in weigh-in write-in


Out Words Compound nouns ending in "out" are typically solid. For example:
bailout blackout blowout breakout burnout buyout checkout closeout cutout dropout fallout
handout hangout hideout holdout knockout layout lookout payout printout readout rollout
sellout shakeout shutout standout strikeout tryout turnout walkout washout workout


However with these exceptions
dine-out fade-out falling-out lights-out shoot-out sick-out time-out

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