bittvsboltWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: bitt is a verb, bolt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bitt” is a verb and “bolt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,494
“bitt” frequency rank
#29,970
“bolt” frequency rank
74464
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bitt bolt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bitten Schraube

Where the eye mixes bitt and bolt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bitt
4 ch
bolt

Why the eye confuses bitt with bolt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bitt is [bɪt] while bolt is [bəʊlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bitt is recorded at frequency rank #44,494, classified as averb, pronounced [bɪt]. bolt is at rank #29,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəʊlt].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 74464, this pair ranks #332,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bitt vs bolt

Shared letters: bt. Private to "bitt": i. Private to "bolt": lo.

"bitt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "bolt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bittbbitt · btit · ibtt
  • boltbbolt · blot · bollt · boltt · botl · oblt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bitt" and "bolt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bitt" is a verb and "bolt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bitt" or "bolt"?
"bolt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,970 in our German list, against #44,494 for "bitt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "bitt" and "bolt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bitt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bolt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #332,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bitt" and "bolt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bims vs bitt". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #332,815 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list