Compound words with DAY

DAY is a hinge word: 6 words make a compound in front of it and 5 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 DAY

Each of these makes a compound ending in DAY.

• birthday — birth + day
• everyday — every + day
• payday — pay + day
• someday — some + day
• sunday — sun + day
• workday — work + day

Words that follow DAY

Each of these makes a compound starting with DAY.

• daybreak — day + break
• daydream — day + dream
• daydreaming — day + dreaming
• daylight — day + light
• daytime — day + time

Why DAY joins on both sides

DAY is a unit of time and a name for daylight, and both senses hinge. BIRTHDAY and PAYDAY pick out a particular day; DAYLIGHT and DAYBREAK are about the light itself.

Bridges you can build through DAY

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.

• BIRTH → DAY → BREAK — birthday and daybreak
• EVERY → DAY → DREAM — everyday and daydream
• PAY → DAY → DREAMING — payday and daydreaming
• SOME → DAY → LIGHT — someday and daylight
• SUN → DAY → TIME — sunday and daytime

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 28.

BACK · BALL · BED · BOARD · BOOK · BREAK · DOWN · FALL · FIRE · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOUSE · LAND · LIFE · LIGHT · MAN · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · TIME · WAY · WORK