Walkout vs. Walk Out
“Walkout” is a closed noun in Cambridge, with hyphenated “walk-out” documented in Business English. “Walk out” is the two-word phrasal verb for leaving in protest, ending a relationship, or stopping work.
Use “walkout” as the usual closed noun for an act of leaving in protest or stopping work; Cambridge Business English also records “walk-out.” Use “walk out” as the phrasal verb.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Context | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| naming an act of leaving/stopping work in protest | walkout | Use the usual closed noun; “walk-out” is also documented in Business English. |
| verb meaning leave, stop work, or depart in protest | walk out | Use the two-word phrasal verb. |
| testing noun vs verb | check inflection | If the expression takes verb tense/inflection, the spaced form is the verb. |
Quick tests
Noun-or-verb test
Is the expression naming an event, or is it functioning as the verb in the sentence?
If yes: Event noun → “walkout” (with documented “walk-out” variant); verb → “walk out.”
If no: Use the surrounding grammar to identify the word class before choosing spacing.
Caveat: The noun has documented orthographic variation; do not mark the hyphenated Business English noun as inherently wrong.
Examples
The workers began a walkout at noon.
“Walkout” is the closed noun naming the protest action.
Several workers walked out at noon.
The spaced phrasal verb carries past-tense inflection.
The report described a walk-out by staff.
The hyphenated noun is documented in Business English.
Further guidance
Core difference
Use the documented noun or modifier form when naming a thing, result, event, or concept; use the spaced form when the words function as a verb.
Fast Test
If the expression can take ordinary verb tense or inflection in the sentence, the spaced verb form is usually the relevant choice.
Variant Boundary
Cambridge records closed “walkout” as a noun, documents “walk-out” as a Business English noun variant, and records “walk out” as the phrasal verb.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- WALKOUT — English meaning (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Closed noun “walkout” and documented Business English “walk-out” variant
- WALK OUT — English meaning (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Two-word phrasal verb “walk out”