Webinar: Expanding Your Vocabulary With Compound Words

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by 404brain

Webinar内容围绕“compound words（复合词）”的构成与用法展开，首先解释复合词由两个或多个单词组合形成并产生新含义。随后对三种形式进行讲解：闭合式（closed form）、连字符式（hyphenated form）与分开放式（open form），并补充说明部分词汇在不同写法之间存在可接受的变体。课程还通过例词与释义演示词义推断方法，如后果类aftermath、反作用的backfire、突发降雨cloudburst，以及含比喻来源的复合词背景，最后强调可按字母顺序学习并掌握每个字母对应的有趣复合词。

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Compound Words Overview

Three Forms of Compound Words

Examples and Meanings

Webinar: Expanding Your Vocabulary With Compound Words Compound words are when two or more words are put together to form anew word with a new meaning. There are three forms of compound words: 􀁸 the closed form, where the words are together (notebook, keyboard, basketball) 􀁸 the hyphenated form (six-pack, mother-in-law, check-in) 􀁸 the open form, where the words are separated by a space (post office, real estate, vice president) For some words, both the open form and the hyphenated forms are acceptable (light-year, light year), and for some words both the hyphenated and the closed form are acceptable (easy-going, easygoing) . Sometimes compound words are easy to understand: a bookstore is a store that sells books; a dishwasher is a machine that washes dishes. But others might not be so obvious; for example, brainstorm – an intense process where you think of many different ideas, or scapegoat – meaning someone who bears the blame for others. This word is from “escape” + “goat,” and its origin is in the Bible, which describes a ritual in which a goat symbolically took on the sins (the bad actions) of the people, and was then sent out into the wild to die. In today’s webinar, I’m going to go through the alphabet A to Z and teach you one or two interesting compound words starting with each letter. aftermath (n.) So, is “aftermath” what happens after your mathematics class? No – this word refers to the effects or consequences after an event (usually a tragic one, like a war). The aftermath of an earthquake would include many collapsed buildings, injured people, etc. backfire (v.) What does it mean for something to backfire? Well, imagine shooting a gun, but the bullet comes out the back instead of the front – not good, right? If something backfires, it goes wrong and has the opposite effect than intended. Ifa company launches a TV commercial to increase sales, but the TV commercial is offensive and sales decrease instead, then you could say the commercial backfired. cloudburst (n.) You probably already know that this is a cloud, and to “burst” means to explode – so a cloudburst is a sudden, heavy rainfall, when rain starts falling very quickly without warning. Another compound word for heavy, continuous rain is a downpour because rain is just pouring down out of the sky! daredevil (n.) Someone who is “daring” is bold, courageous. And this is adevil – well, a drawing of a devil, anyway. Devils are considered bad. So a daredevil is a person who is very bold but in a risky or dangerous way – for example, someone who does rock climbing without any ropes or protective equipment! eyelid / eye shadow / eyelash / eyebrow (n.) Now I’m going to teach you four words related to your eyes. The small fold of skin that covers your eyes when you close them is your eyelid. Women like to decorate their eyelids with a typeof makeup called eye shadow. The tiny hairs on your eyelids are your eyelashes, and the line of hairs above your eye is your eyebrow. frostbite (n.) The word “frost” refers to tiny ice crystals, and to bite is to cut something with your teeth. Put the two together and you get frostbite – an injury when your skin is exposed to extreme cold for too long, and the cold destroys the tissues. Sometimes people with frostbite have their fingers or toes amputated because the damage is too great. greenhouse (n.) A greenhouse is a structure especially used for growing plants. It’s usually made of glass so that the temperature and humidity can be controlled. homemade / handmade (adj.) How would you like some homemade cherry pie? The adjective homemade means it was made by a person at home, not by a factory or by a big company. Similar to that is handmade, which describes something made by hand, not by a machine. We usually use homemade for food and handmade for objects. ironclad (adj.) “Ironclad” literally means to be covered in the metal called iron. A battleship can be ironclad.

FAQs

复合词（compound words）是什么？

复合词是由两个或多个单词组合成一个新词，并形成新的含义。

复合词主要有哪三种形式？

主要包括闭合式（closed form）、连字符式（hyphenated form）和分开放式（open form）。

课程中如何帮助理解不太显而易见的复合词？

通过提供例子并解释其整体含义及可能的来源或比喻用法，帮助学习者从词形与语义关系推断含义。

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by 404brain