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Bundle Words

A list of words that when broken into parts have new meanings

Some words are bundles of two or more words, like can-did or super-in-ten-dent, and are called charades. Sometimes the components can suggest a definition very different from the whole word's real meaning, in which case the charade is called a bundle word, a subset of daffynitions. There are hundreds of charades in English but few good bundle words. Here are a few of the more interesting ones.

abundance — a bread boogie

adamant — the first insect

addiction — commercially speaking

admission — marketing strategy

adverse — product jingle

alphabet — first bet of the night

antelope — quick insect marriage

assail — pain in the butt

assorts — donkey morsels

atrophy — a winner’s reward

automating — car romancing

barbell — saloon alarm

barking — boozer

bartender — “-holomew”

bedlam — night flight

brandish — breakfast

bulldoze — more than a catnap

bumpkin — nudge and shove

button — sitting

candid — free will

canteen — capable young adult

canyon — toilet over there

carnation — the United States

carpet — coach dog

carping — engine noise

carport — fish morsel

castaway — actors’ strike

castrate — auditions

chestnut — bosom buddy

childhood — young gangster

clockwise — can tell time

converse — prison poetry

damnation — beaver colony

dampest — beaver

departmentally — go crazy

divergent — scuba man

dogma — bitch

doughnut — miser

downspout — feather molting

eggplant — hen

eyedropper — A clumsy ophthalmologist.

falsehood — undercover cop

forbid — on auction

foreground — golf course

furlong — mink yearn

grimace — fortune teller’s death card

hangnail — coat hook

headlines — face wrinkles

headquarters — coins without tails

heirloom — the bearing of a sick man's son

humdrum — odd musical instrument

humbug — an insect that forgot the words

lavatory — volcanic British politician

meanwhile — cruel times

mentally — military roll call

napkin — slumber and snooze

neighborhood — bully next door

nightmare — dark horse

offsprings — on waterbed

otherwise — uniquely smart

parole — fatherhood

pardon — pro golfer

pastoral — beyond talking

penchant — oink

peptide — flood of enthusiasm

plaintiff — minor quarrel

pungent — someone who thinks he’s witty

quarterback — tails

rampage — call for a male sheep

rampart — graffiti on the incline

rapid — source of hip hop

restoration — lecture that puts you to sleep

safecracker — no-fat bread wafer

seething — eyeball

shamrock — fake diamond

sparking — boxing champ

sheepskin — members of the flock

stockade — Wall Street refreshment

subconscious — thinking about a large sandwich

tadpole — small stick

tangent — beach bum

thinking — skinny monarch

triumphant — winning bug

wanton — lightweight

warden — the combat room

warrant — battle cry