Compound words list
521 common compound words in English, from airport to workshop. Closed compounds are grouped by the word they start with, so you can see how one word builds many: rain gives rainbow, raincoat, raindrop and more.
What is a compound word?
A compound word joins two or more words into one with its own meaning, like rain + bow = rainbow or tooth + brush = toothbrush . Sometimes the meaning comes straight from the parts: a toothbrush is a brush for your teeth. Sometimes it doesn't: a butterfly is neither butter nor a fly.
Closed compounds are written as one word: notebook, sunflower, backpack.Open compounds are written as two words: ice cream, high school, bus stop.Hyphenated compounds are joined with hyphens: mother-in-law, well-known, check-in.
Not sure how one is written? Check a dictionary. Compounds often change over time, the way e-mail became email.
A
air air bagair borneair fareair liftair lineair mailair planeair portair spaceair tightair timeair wayarm arm bandarm chairarm pitarm rest
B
back back boneback dropback fireback groundback handback logback packback seatback sideback stageback strokeback trackback upback yardball ball gameball parkball pointball roombase base ballbase boardbase linebath bath robebath roombath tubbath waterbed bed bugbed rockbed roombed sidebed spreadbed timebee bee hivebee linebirth birth daybirth markbirth placebirth rightblack black berryblack birdblack boardblack jackblack mailblack outblack smithblack topblue blue bellblue berryblue birdblue grassblue printboat boat houseboat loadbody body builderbody guardbook book casebook endbook keeperbook markbook shelfbook storebook wormbrain brain powerbrain stormbrain washbread bread crumbbread winnerbreak break downbreak fastbreak throughbreak waterbutter butter cupbutter flybutter milkbutter nutbutter scotch
C
camp camp firecamp groundcamp sitecar car poolcar portcat cat fishcat napcat walkcheck check bookcheck listcheck matecheck outcheck pointcheese cheese burgercheese cakecow cow bellcow boycow girlcow hidecross cross bowcross roadcross walkcross wordcup cup boardcup cake
D
day day breakday dreamday lightday timedish dish clothdish washerdog dog housedog wooddoor door belldoor knobdoor matdoor stepdoor waydown down falldown hilldown loaddown pourdown sidedown stairsdown streamdown towndragon dragon flydrum drum beatdrum stick
E
ear ear acheear lobeear markear phoneear plugear ringearth earth quakeearth wormegg egg plantegg shellevery every bodyevery dayevery oneevery thingevery whereeye eye balleye broweye lasheye lideye sighteye witness
F
farm farm housefarm landfarm yardfinger finger nailfinger printfinger tipfire fire fighterfire flyfire housefire manfire placefire prooffire wallfire woodfire workfish fish bowlfish hookfish netflash flash backflash cardflash lightfoot foot ballfoot hillfoot notefoot pathfoot printfoot stepfoot stoolfoot wear
G
gold gold fishgold smithgrand grand childgrand fathergrand mothergrand parentgrand standgrape grape fruitgrape vinegrass grass hoppergrass landgreen green horngreen house
H
hair hair brushhair cuthair linehair pinhair stylehand hand baghand bookhand cuffhand madehand railhand shakehand standhand writinghead head achehead bandhead lighthead linehead phonehead quartershead stonehead wayheart heart beatheart breakheart burnhigh high landhigh lighthigh wayhome home landhome madehome roomhome sickhome townhome workhoney honey beehoney combhoney moonhorse horse backhorse playhorse powerhorse shoehouse house boathouse holdhouse keeperhouse matehouse planthouse work
I
ice ice boxin in comein doorin landin putin side
K
key key boardkey holekey notekey stone
L
lady lady bugland land fillland lordland markland slidelife life boatlife guardlife longlife stylelife timelight light heartedlight houselight weightlime lime lightlime stone
M
mail mail boxmail manmilk milk shakemoon moon beammoon lightmoon walkmotor motor boatmotor cycle
N
news news letternews papernews roomnews standnight night clubnight fallnight gownnight marenight timenote note booknote padnote worthy
O
oat oat mealout out breakout comeout doorout fitout goingout letout lineout putout sideout standingover over allover coatover comeover flowover headover lookover nightover time
P
pan pan cakepass pass portpass wordpea pea nutpine pine appleplay play bookplay groundplay houseplay mateplay offplay timepop pop cornpost post cardpost mark
R
rail rail roadrail wayrain rain bowrain coatrain droprain fallrain forestrain stormrattle rattle snake
S
sail sail boatsand sand boxsand castlesand papersand stoneschool school houseschool workschool yardsea sea foodsea gullsea horsesea shellsea shoresea sidesea weedship ship wreckship yardshoe shoe boxshoe laceside side lineside showside walkskate skate boardsky sky lightsky linesky scrapersnow snow ballsnow boardsnow fallsnow flakesnow mansnow stormsome some bodysome daysome onesome thingsome timessome wheresound sound proofsound trackstar star duststar fishstar lightstep step fatherstep motherstory story bookstory linestory tellerstraw straw berrysun sun burnsun flowersun glassessun lightsun risesun screensun setsun shinesweet sweet heart
T
table table clothtable spoontea tea cuptea pottea spoonteam team mateteam workthunder thunder boltthunder stormtime time keepertime linetime tabletip tip toetooth tooth brushtooth pastetooth pick
U
under under coverunder dogunder groundunder lineunder standunder waterunder wearup up gradeup hillup loadup sideup stairsup streamup town
W
wall wall paperwaste waste basketwaste landwatch watch dogwatch manwater water colorwater fallwater frontwater melonwater proofweek week dayweek endwheel wheel barrowwheel chairwild wild firewild flowerwild lifewind wind fallwind millwind pipewind shieldwind stormwood wood landwood peckerwood workwork work benchwork daywork outwork placework sheetwork shop
Open compound words
These are usually written as two separate words, even though they work as one idea.
ice cream high school post office living room hot dog bus stop fast food swimming pool full moon peanut butter fire alarm traffic jam video game credit card real estate dining room parking lot gas station cell phone apple pie school bus coffee table science fiction solar system polar bear roller coaster sleeping bag toilet paper first aid water bottle rush hour front door jump rope hard drive home run boiling point life jacket police officer grocery store teddy bear
Hyphenated compound words
mother-in-law father-in-law brother-in-law sister-in-law merry-go-round forget-me-not jack-in-the-box up-to-date editor-in-chief well-known old-fashioned check-in warm-up follow-up runner-up long-term part-time full-time self-esteem one-way x-ray T-shirt ice-cold high-tech kind-hearted
Compound chains from past puzzles
Every Missing Link puzzle is a chain of seven words where each word joins the next to make a compound word or phrase. Here are the chains from puzzles that are over. Planning to replay one? These are spoilers.
Show 16 chains
No. 16 SEA → SALT → WATER → BOTTLE → NECK → TIE → DYE No. 15 SPACE → SUIT → CASE → STUDY → HALL → PASS → WORD No. 14 BLUE → BIRD → CAGE → FIGHT → CLUB → HOUSE → WORK No. 13 STAR → FISH → TANK → TOP → SECRET → SANTA → CLAUS No. 12 HONEY → COMB → OVER → LOOK → OUT → LAW → SUIT No. 11 BUTTER → FLY → WHEEL → CHAIR → MAN → HOLE → PUNCH No. 10 EAR → RING → LEADER → BOARD → GAME → DAY → DREAM No. 9 PAPER → BACK → PACK → RAT → RACE → CAR → POOL No. 8 BOOK → MARK → DOWN → TOWN → HALL → WAY → POINT No. 7 COFFEE → TABLE → TOP → HAT → TRICK → SHOT → GUN No. 6 HEAD → LIGHT → HOUSE → BOAT → YARD → STICK → SHIFT No. 5 TOOTH → PICK → POCKET → KNIFE → POINT → BLANK → CHECK No. 4 SNOW → BALL → PARK → WAY → SIDE → WALK → OUT No. 3 SUN → FLOWER → BED → ROOM → SERVICE → STATION → WAGON No. 2 FIRE → WORK → SHOP → LIFT → OFF → SHORE → LINE No. 1 RAIN → BOW → TIE → BREAK → FAST → FOOD → CHAIN
Teaching compound words? Missing Link makes a five-minute warm-up for class. See Missing Link for teachers .