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The hyphen ‐ is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. [1]The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash –, em dash — and others), which are wider, or with the minus sign −, which is also wider and usually drawn a little higher to match the crossbar in the plus sign +.
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
It is a sister site to The Free Dictionary and usage examples in the form of "references in classic literature" taken from the site's collection are used on The Free Dictionary 's definition pages. In addition, double-clicking on a word in the site's collection of reference materials brings up the word's definition on The Free Dictionary.
Compound modifiers with high-or low-: "high-level discussion", "low-price markup". Colours in compounds: "a dark-blue sweater" "a reddish-orange dress". Fractions as modifiers are hyphenated: "two-thirds majority", but if numerator or denominator are already hyphenated, the fraction itself does not take a hyphen: "a thirty-three thousandth part ...
High Stakes, an American film directed by Arthur Hoyt; High Stakes, an early talkie and the last film for silent actress Mae Murray; High Stakes, a thriller, debut film of Sarah Michelle Gellar; High Stakes, a TV movie starring Cynthia Gibb
In the United States, the term hyphenated American refers to the use of a hyphen (in some styles of writing) between the name of an ethnicity and the word American in compound nouns, e.g., as in Irish-American. Calling a person a "hyphenated American" was used as an insult alleging divided political or national loyalties, especially in times of ...
Five-and-dime, dime store, a store selling cheap merchandise; a dime a dozen, so abundant as to be worth little (UK: ten a penny); on a dime, in a small space ("turn on a dime", UK: turn on a sixpence) or immediately ("stop on a dime", UK: stop on a sixpence); nickel-and-dime, originally an adjective meaning "involving small amounts of money ...
Wikipedia uses four: the hyphen (sometimes called the hyphen-minus), the minus sign, the en dash, and the em dash. Hyphen (- or -, MOS:HYPHEN; known as the hyphen-minus in ASCII and Unicode) are used in many ways on Wikipedia. They are the only short, horizontal dash-like character available as a separate key on most keyboards.