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
|
|