Two or more words make up a compound noun. Some compound nouns can appear as a single word (closed), a hyphenated phrase, or two separate words (open). There are several different ways to create a compound noun. For example:

• noun + noun (football)
• adjective + noun (whiteboard)
• noun + adjective (handful)
• verb + noun (dining table)
• noun + verb (sunrise)
• verb + preposition (check-out)
• noun + prepositional phrase (brother-in-law)
• preposition + noun (overlord)