nowrap

In web development, nowrap refers to a behavior that prevents text or inline content from wrapping onto multiple lines. The standard way to implement this is via CSS, using the white-space property with the value nowrap. When applied, all inline content inside the element is kept on a single line, and line breaks only appear if explicitly introduced by elements such as the line break tag.

Historically, an HTML attribute named nowrap was used to achieve a similar effect on certain elements like table cells (td and th). That attribute is deprecated in HTML5, and CSS is recommended for controlling wrapping instead.

How it works: white-space: nowrap collapses sequences of whitespace to a single space and suppresses automatic wrapping, so content continues on one line as long as the container allows. If the content exceeds the available width, overflow may occur, depending on the container’s overflow setting, potentially creating horizontal scroll or clipped content.

Usage considerations: While nowrap can help preserve the readability of short, single-line labels and controls, it can hinder accessibility and responsive design on small displays by forcing horizontal scrolling or truncation. When used, designers often pair nowrap with overflow management or alternative techniques such as text truncation with ellipsis, or layout strategies like flexbox or grid that adapt more gracefully to different viewport widths.

Related concepts include the broader white-space family (normal, pre, pre-wrap, etc.), text-overflow, and overflow handling in responsive layouts.