A hyphen is a punctuation mark. In written English, hypens are used to connect words, parts of words, and numbers. Specific examples of these uses are shown below.
To create compound words
This is not a cost-effective approach for solving our healthcare crisis.
The newly discovered planetary system is 42 light-years away.
Do you have an up-to-date list of our office staff?
There was a lot of anti-American feeling when the war began.
My mother-in-law only speaks Italian.
To indicate a range of numbers or period of time
Read the article on pages 112-15.
Kofi Annan served as Secretary-General from 1997-2006.
The college will be closed for vacation from December 20-January 12.
To mean “to”
The New York–Los Angeles flight takes about 6 hours.
At the football game, Amherst beat Williams, 23-20.
Email addresses and websites
Hyphens are also used in email and web addresses. For example, the web address for Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary site is:
