open compound

plural open compounds

1. grammarA compound word with spaces in it, for example, high school, school bus, or science fiction.

   Two-word compounds--named open compounds in Edward N. Teall's Meet Mr. Hyphen--are in fact very common.

   1951, English Journal, Volume 40

   5 more examples

   Thus such words, to give only a very few examples, as pismire, baise-mains, favonian, hearstling, happenstance, chanticleer, and open compounds like guardhouse lawyer,sidewalk superintendent and slush fund are registered without any kind of status label ...

   1966, Ladislas Országh, Deficiencies of Modern English Dictionaries in English Studies Today, Fourth Serieshttps://books.google.com/books?id=ftJKfD7WKwcC&pg=PA71&dq=%22open+compounds%22

   Further, the language permits open compounds, as indicated above, so that we might conjecture such spellings as "battlecry, battle-field, battle ground, battle-piece and battlewise."

   1971, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Volume 5https://books.google.com/books?id=dvWkHF_6NAgC&pg=PA52&dq=%22open+compounds%22

   Should the Yiddish noun ris-uf 'start' be written as an open or a hyphenated compound? The MEYYED gives it as an open compound (ris uf) in the English- Yiddish ...

   1981, Jewish Language Review

   The examples also exemplify the three forms that compound words take: 1) open compound (snail mail); 2) hyphenated compound (eagle-eyed); and 3) solid compound (bookworm).

   1992, Sheila Davis, The Songwriter's Idea Bookhttps://books.google.com/books?id=6hhjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT143

   A subentry is an open compound (e.g., express contract) whose major element is the noun (contract at whose alphabetical place the subentry is entered.

   1996, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Lawhttps://books.google.com/books?id=JYs74quLWLIC&pg=PR7&dq=%22open+compound%22