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vocaboo
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hyphenation

Pronunciation: [haɪfəˈneɪʃən]

Word

Context: "language"

(noun) the way in which words are broken up with a hyphen, especially at the end of a line. It's like when you have a long word, and you put a little dash (-) to show that the word continues on the next line.

Example

Hyphenation is important for making sure that long words look nice at the end of a line in books.

Example

The paper I read had no hyphenation, which made some words look weird and cut off.

Example

What is the correct hyphenation for the word 'basketball' when it is split at the end of a line?

Context: "writing"

(noun) a system of using hyphens to connect parts of words or to join two words together. For instance, in a compound word like 'mother-in-law', hyphenation helps to show that the words are related.

Example

Using hyphenation makes it clear that 'mother-in-law' is one special person.

Example

Without hyphenation, 'mother in law' can confuse people because it looks like three separate words.

Example

Can you explain the rules of hyphenation for compound words?

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