Compound words with CHECK

CHECK is a hinge word: 1 words make a compound in front of it and 4 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.

Words that go in front of CHECK

Each of these makes a compound ending in CHECK.

Words that follow CHECK

Each of these makes a compound starting with CHECK.

Why CHECK joins on both sides

CHECK arrived from chess — the shah in check — and then spread to anything stopped or verified. CHECKPOINT and CHECKLIST keep the stopping sense, CHECKBOOK and PAYCHECK the money one, and CHECKOUT does both at once.

Bridges you can build through CHECK

Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.

Play a bridge

KEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.

Play today's KEYSTONE

Other hinge words

Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 54.

AWAY · BACK · BALL · BED · BLACK · BOARD · BOOK · BOY · BREAK · DAY · DOOR · DOWN · FALL · FATHER · FIRE · GROUND · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOOD · HOUSE · LAND · LESS · LIFE · LIGHT · LINE · LOAD · MAN · MOTHER · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · PAY · POINT · POST · POWER · ROOM · RUN · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · STEP · SUN · TAKE · TIME · TURN · UNDER · WALK · WATER · WAY · WOOD · WORK