How Phrasal Verbs Can Form Compound Nouns

I always find it interesting to look at ways that words connect, so we can see how one type of word might become another. I was struck by a specific area of this recently while editing a crime novel, which included a lot of compound nouns that stem from phrasal verbs.

As I’ve explored phrasal verbs a few times recently this seemed an interesting area to share. How and why do we form nouns from phrasal verbs?

Why do we form nouns from phrasal verbs?

Phrasal verbs have very specific meanings, which means that they can produce very specific nouns that reflect these meanings. There’s no general pattern or rule to exactly how, when or why this emerges or is possible, but I think it’s safe to say that when we have a phrasal verb that can be associated with a particular action or result, that action or result might eventually be labelled with a compound noun based on that phrasal verb.

This is quite common in computers, where we have such verbs as “log on” / “log in”, “log off”, “start up” and so on. To take the first example, we talk about logging in to a service, which may require personal information, your “login details”, or in shorter form, your “login”. So over time these phrasal verbs can take on noun forms. Mind, this isn’t necessarily how it always evolves: depending on the example, it’s quite possible a noun comes first and the verb follows later.

Aside from sentence structure clues, you can spot when these are nouns and not phrasal verbs because they’re often presented differently. Phrasal verbs typically consist of two or more words, which used in noun form become compound nouns. With compound nouns, we often use hyphens to make clear that they’re together. In time, the two words may then be joined to form one noun. As a general pattern, this is something that takes place over time: the older and/or more common a compound noun is, the more likely it is to become hyphenated and then combined.

So, let’s look at some examples.

Phrasal Verbs with Noun Forms

As I mentioned, this topic came to me while I was editing a crime novel, during which I started to note down the nouns derived from phrasal verbs. So I’ve put together a short list of words that are somewhat linked thematically! Here are some examples of phrasal verbs with noun forms:

lead up to (phrasal verb: occur in the time before something) – lead-up (noun: an event/period of time preceding something else)
come up / come down (phrasal verbs: to become elated/rise or to lose elation/fall) – come-up / come-down (nouns: the time/experience of rising or falling)
clear out (phrasal verb: remove the contents of something to tidy it) – clear-out (noun: an event/time where something is tidied out)
bust up (phrasal verb: damage something to make it end) – bust-up (a strong argument/fight that may end a relationship or badly damage someone)
hand out (phrasal verb: to distribute something, typically by hand) – handout (noun: aid given to someone in need)
catch up (phrasal verb: to meet/talk with someone not seen in a while, specifically to learn any news) – catch-up (noun: a meeting/conversation specifically to share news)
write off (phrasal verb: to declare something irreparable) – write-off (noun: something that is beyond repair)
lock up (phrasal verb: to make something secure, behind a lock) – lock-up (noun: a locked, secure room/place)
pick up (phrasal verb: to collect/lift/carry something) – pickup truck (noun: a truck with a large bed for carrying things)
set up (phrasal verb: to prepare something in advance) – set-up (noun: an event planned in advance, usually in the negative, i.e. a trap)
look out (phrasal verb: to be careful/wary) – lookout (noun: someone who watches for problems)