This is obviously a combination word, more so than a contraction, of two verbs, and the definition is almost on point for when you put the definitions of the component verbs together. Almost. One could almost intuit the definition. Another word like this is skiptrace. So is there a word for this type of word, and are there more examples?
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Do you mean a compound?– TaliesinMerlinCommented Nov 26, 2019 at 19:15
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@TaliesinMerlin Yes, but a specialized compound made from verbs. Not like mothball or cabdriver.– K DogCommented Nov 26, 2019 at 21:23
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1 Answer
These could be called compound single-word verbs, to differentiate from other compound words such as moonlight (though, admittedly, to moonlight is a verb, albeit a noun-noun compound).
Example of verb-verb compound verbs: stirfry.
In linguistics, there's a technical term "serial verb constructions" (SVC). This paper aims to show that verb-verb compounds in English (and Jordanian Arabic) are examples of SVC. It gives other examples: kickstart, crash-land, sleep-walk.
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Hearsay is a noun. Skiptrace is a noun. I think you mean verb compounds. The example is spot on.– K DogCommented Nov 26, 2019 at 21:26
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I would think moonlight is a noun-noun compound that eventually created a verb. Moonlight the noun is Middle English; to moonlight is 19th century. (I agree the examples are really useful!) Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 21:31
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1@KDog: you're right - I ignored the noun-ness of 'hearsay' etc. and only paid attention the reference to the participating verbs and away I went. Tunnel vision, I'm afraid. Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 21:35