Definition of hyphen

• n. - A mark or short dash, thus [-], placed at the end of a line which terminates with a syllable of a word, the remainder of which is carried to the next line; or between the parts of many a compound word; as in fine-leaved, clear-headed. It is also sometimes used to separate the syllables of words.
• v. t. - To connect with, or separate by, a hyphen, as two words or the parts of a word.