time out In American and Canadian English, timeout is one word in sports-related contexts, where it means an official pause in the action. Timeouts is its plural. In all other uses, time out is a two-word noun phrase. ... In other words, you call time out, but you take a timeout.

Is timeout a compound word?

Over the years, the term has been written as two separate words (“time out”), two words hyphenated (“time-out”), and a single word (“timeout”).

Does timeout Need a hyphen?

Always hyphenate as an adjective or a noun. Don't hyphenate as a verb phrase, such as the connection timed out.