Specifying more exactly: compound nouns

1.84 A single noun is often not sufficient to refer clearly and unambiguously to a person or thing. When this is the case, a compound noun can be used. A compound noun is a fixed expression which is made up of more than one word and which functions in the clause as a noun.

Some people write out a new address book every January.

How would one actually choose a small personal computer?

Where did you hide the can opener?

...a private swimming pool.

Once it is clear what you a re referring to, it is sometimes possible to use just the second word of a two-word compound noun. For example, after mentioning 'a swimming pool', you can just refer to 'the poor'.

Most compound nouns consist of two words, but some consist of three or more words.

...a vase of lily of the valley.

use of hyphens 1.85 Some compound nouns are written with hyphens instead of spaces between the words.

The only experience I've got of foreign languages is pen-friends.

Can't you find a baby-sitter and come over for dinner?

Judy's brother-in-law lived with his family.

Some are written with either a hyphen or a space between the words. For example, both 'air-conditioner' and 'air conditioner' are widely used.

A few compound nouns which consist of more than two words are written partly with hyphens and partly with spaces, for example 'back-seat driver' and 'bring-and-buy sale'.

...children from one-parent families.

Another route is by active participation in a Parent-Teacher Association.

lists of compound nouns 1.86 Compound nouns may be countable, uncountable, singular, or plural.

Here is a list of some common countable compound nouns:

address book air conditioner air raid alarm clock assembly line baby-sitter back-seat driver bank account bird of prey book token blood donor bride-to-be bring-and-buy sale brother-in-law burglar alarm bus stop can opener car park come-on compact disc comrade in arms contact lens cover-up

credit card dining room drawing pin driving licence estate agent fairy tale film star fire engine fork-lift trick frying pan guided missile health centre heart attack high school human being letter-box lily of the valley looker-on musical instrument nervous breakdown news bulletin old hand one-parent family

package holiday Parent-Teacher Assosiation parking meter passer-by pen-friend personal computer polar bear police station post office runner-up sleeping bag summing-up swimming pool T-shirt tea bag telephone number traveller's cheque tea-table washing machine X-ray youth hostel zebra crossing

1.87 Here is a list of some common uncountable compound nouns:

air conditioning air-traffic control barbed wire birth control blood pressure bubble bath capital punishment central heating chewing gum common sense cotton wool data processing do-it-yourself dry-cleaning family planning fancy dress fast-food first aid food poisoning

further education general knowledge hay fever heart failure higher education hire purchase income tax junk food law and order lost property mail order make-up mineral water nail varnish natural history old age pocket money remote control science fiction

show business snow jumping sign language social security social work soda water stainless steel table tennis talcum powder toilet paper turn-over tracing paper unemployment benefit value added tax washing powder washing-up liquid water-skiing writing paper

1.88 Here is a list of some common singular compound nouns:

age of consent arms race brain drain colour bar cost of living death penalty diplomatic corps dress circle drying-up fire brigade

general public generation gap greenhouse effect human race labour force labour market long jump mother-tongue open air private sector

public sector rank and file solar system sound barrier space age welfare state women's movement

1.89 Here is a list of some common plural compound nouns:

armed forces baked beans civil rights current affairs French fries grass roots high heels human fights

industrial relations inverted commas licensing laws luxury goods modern languages natural resources race relations road works

social services social studies swimming trunks vocal cords winter sports yellow pages

composition of compound nouns 1.90 Most compound nouns consist of two nouns, or adjective and a noun.

I listened with anticipation to the radio news bulletin.

...a big dining room.

She came in and sat down at the tea-table.

He was still a freshman in the high school, although he was nearly sixteen.

Old age is sickness only if one makes it so.

However, a few compound nouns are related to phrasal verbs. There are often written with a hyphen.

The President was directly invoked in the Watergate cover-up.

The registry office is famous for its turn-over of fashionable weddings.

For more information about phrasal verbs, see paragraphs 3.84 to 3.117

USAGE NOTE 1.91 In some cases, the meaning of a compound noun is not obvious from the words it consists of.

For example, someone's 'mother-tongue' is not the tongue of their mother but the language they learn as a child, and an 'old hand' is not a hand which is old but a person who is experienced at doing a particular job.

In other cases, the compound noun consists of words which do not occur on their own, for example 'hanky-panky', 'hodge-podge', and 'argy-bargy'. These nouns are usually used in informal conversation rather than formal writing.

The rest of your question I find rhetorical hocus-pocus.

She is invariably up to some sort of jiggery-pokery.

plural forms 1.92 The plural forms of compound nouns vary according to the type of words that they consist of. If the final word of a compound noun is a count noun, the plural form of the count noun is used when the compound noun is plural.

Air raids were taking place every night.

...health centres, banks, post offices, and police stations.

Shrill voices would be heard through letter-boxes.

...the refusal of dockers to use fork-lift trucks.

For full information about the plural forms of count nouns, see the Reference Section.

Compound nouns that are directly related to phrasal verbs usually have a plural form ending in '-s'.

Nobody seems disturbed about cover-ups when they are essential to the conduct of a war.

Naturally, I think people who drive smarter, faster cars than mine are a bunch of low-grade show-offs.

A few compound nouns are less directly related to phrasal verbs, and consist of a count noun and an adverb. In these cases, the plural form of the count noun is used before the adverb when the compound noun is plural.

For example, the plural of 'looker-on' is 'lookers-on', and the plural of 'summing-up' is 'summings-up'.

He stopped passers-by and offered it for sale.

Compound nouns which consist of two nouns linked by the prepositions 'of' or 'in', or a noun followed by 'to-be', have a plural form in which the first noun in the compound is plural.

I like birds of prey and hawks particularly.

...brothers whom I had considered my comrades in arms.

The veil places brides-to-be at a distinct advantage.

Some compound nouns have been borrowed from other languages, mainly French and Latin, and therefore do not have normal English plural forms.

...aided by agents provocateurs sent into our midst.

...while the nouveaux riches of younger states built themselves palatial mansions.

1.93 Compound nouns are fixed expressions. However, nouns can always be used in front of other nouns in order to refer to something in a more specific way. For the use of nouns as modifiers, see paragraphs 2.174 to 2.179.