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Other categories of compound noun

Nouns combine less frequently with other units including adverbs, prepositions

and other parts of speech to form compound nouns. The most common categories

of compound are nouns which are joined by of, at or in, compound nouns formed

from phrasal verbs, and compound nouns which are linked by and or are

otherwise hyphenated.

● Examples of compound nouns joined by of, at or in:

right-of-way

stay-at-home brother-in-law

commander-in-chief

● Examples of compound nouns formed from phrasal verbs:

runner-up

passer-by

take-over

stand-by

lay-by

● Noun + and + noun compounds are often called binomial phrases. The nouns

in such pairs may be singular or plural in form, and are usually fixed in their

order. Frequently occurring examples are:

aims and objectives

research and development

ladies and gentlemen

size and shape

health and safety

policy and resources

presence and absence

theory and practice 

strengths and weaknesses

trial and error