"Definition

In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound structures in a variety of ways. And once they are formed, they sometimes metamorphose over time. A common pattern is that two words — fire fly, say — will be joined by a hyphen for a time — fire-fly — and then be joined into one word — firefly. In this respect, a language like German, in which words are happily and immediately linked one to the other, might seem to have an advantage. There is only one sure way to know how to spell compounds in English: use an authoritative dictionary.

There are three forms of compound words:
the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly, secondhand, softball, childlike, crosstown, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;

the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;

and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney general."

Good luck from Oso ¶:^)

A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence.

For example the house at the end of the street (example 1) is a phrase. It acts like a noun. It contains the phrase at the end of the street (example 2), which acts like an adjective. Example 2 could be replaced by white, to make the phrase the white house. Examples 1 and 2 contain the phrase the end of the street (example 3) which acts like a noun. It could be replaced by the cross-roads to give the house at the cross-roads.

Each phrase has a word called its head which links it to the rest of the sentence. In English the head is often the first word of the phrase.

Phrases may be classified by the type of head they take

* Prepositional phrase with a preposition as head (e.g. in love, over the rainbow)
* Noun phrase with a noun as head (e.g. the black cat, a cat on the mat)
* Verb phrase with a verb as head (e.g. eat cheese, jump up and down)
* Adjectival phrase with an adjective as head (e.g. full of toys)
* Adverbial phrase with adverb as head (e.g. very carefully)

Formal definition

A phrase is a syntactic structure which has syntactic properties derived from its head.

For example the house at the end of the street is a noun phrase. Its head is house, and its syntactic properties come from that fact. It contains prepositional phrase at the end of the street, which acts as an adjunct. At the end of the street could be replaced by another adjunct, such as white, to make the phrase the white house. Of the street, another prepositional phrase, acts as a complement of end. Each phrase has a word called its head which gives it its syntactic properties.
Complexity

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Note added at 6 mins (2005-05-16 02:09:16 GMT)
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The examples you gave are adverbial phrases.

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Phrase

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Note added at 8 mins (2005-05-16 02:10:37 GMT)
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Baby, a good dictionary, such as Oxford or Collins lists a lot of phrases.

Maybe this is what you're looking for: "collocation - the way in which words are used together regularly. Collocation refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together, for example which prepositions are used with particular verbs, or which verbs and nouns are used together. For example, in English the verb 'perform' is used with 'operation' but not with 'discussion.'
The doctor performed the operation.

hand-to-hand (hãnd'tə-hãnd') adj.
Being at close quarters: hand-to-hand combat.
hand to hand adv.
Idioms

1)In close combat; also, at close quarters. For example, If the enemy came any closer they would soon be fighting hand to hand. This expression, dating from about 1400, is usually restricted to military contexts but occasionally sees more general use.
from hand to hand. From one person to another; through a succession of persons. For example, The instructions were passed from hand to hand until everyone had seen them, or Over the generations the family albums went from hand to hand. [Mid-1500s]

2) from one person to another


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Note added at 9 mins (2005-05-16 02:12:04 GMT)
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\"ever since\" is not an idiom, it is an expression
\"I have loved bananas ever since I was a baby.\"
\"She is afraid of cars ever since the accident\"

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Note added at 13 mins (2005-05-16 02:16:27 GMT)
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actually, I think the 2nd sentence sounds odd... improvement:
\"She has been afraid of cars ever since the accident\"

Collocation is the relationship between two words or groups of words that often go together and form a common expression. If the expression is heard often, the words become 'glued' together in our minds. 'Crystal clear', 'middle management' 'nuclear family' and 'cosmetic surgery' are examples of collocated pairs of words. Some words are often found together because they make up a compound noun, for example 'riding boots' or 'motor cyclist'.
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/advdicts/collocation.htm