time frame
noun
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time frame or timeframe?
Should time frame be written as one word or two? At present, it is most commonly styled as two words with no hyphen in between.
Compounds, or “words consisting of components that are words,” come in three varieties: open (two words with a space between them, such as lima bean), hyphenated (two words with a hyphen between them, such as runner-up), and closed (one word, such as rowboat). In some cases, competing compound stylings appear in different publications. This is generally acceptable as long as the spelling remains consistent throughout a book or periodical.
Compounds have a tendency to move from open to closed as time goes by, and our evidence suggests that time frame is headed in this direction. At this point, however, the open compound is far more prevalent.
Examples of time frame in a Sentence
Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2025
Over the next two weeks, the eight- to 14-day precipitation outlook from the NWS Climate Prediction Center anticipates that Southern California might be in for more abnormally dry weather, whereas the northern half of the state is expecting above-average precipitation during the same time frame.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025
Jeff Bezos, meanwhile, saw a 133 percent increase to $254 million over the same time frame.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 28 Jan. 2025
For comparison, the Australian pop star Iggy Azalea had one of the biggest meme coin launches of 2024, with her token MOTHER, but only 0.7% of the crypto market interacted with it over the same time frame.
—Brady Dale, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for time frame 
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Cite this Entry
“Time frame.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20frame. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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