The English Oracle

Which is right: "drop-down" or "drop down"?

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Track title: CC M Beethoven - Piano Sonata No 3 in C 3

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Chapters
00:00 Which Is Right: &Quot;Drop-Down&Quot; Or &Quot;Drop Down&Quot;?
00:19 Accepted Answer Score 17
00:43 Answer 2 Score 6
01:04 Answer 3 Score 3
01:20 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#orthography #hyphenation #programming #compounds #openvsclosedvshyphenated

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 17


If it's just the compound adjective, use drop-down list.

Note, however, that there are classes of components in various frameworks that are called DropDown or DropDownList or various alternatives of the same thing. In such cases use the framework name as is.




ANSWER 2

Score 6


In the dictionary it's drop-down: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drop-down

Also "drop-down" prevails on tech websites like apple.com or microsoft.com.

I think that this is the best indicator: http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=drop-down%2C+drop+down&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=




ANSWER 3

Score 4


In the Merriam Webster dictionary, it is drop-down, but it also shows dropdown. — http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drop-down "drop-down or dropdown noun, plural drop-downs or dropdowns "