Which to use
“cock” and “cord” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,029
- “cock” frequency rank
- #36,862
- “cord” frequency rank
- 74891
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cock | cord |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | männliches Huhn | längliches aus etwas zusammengedrehtes Ding, das beispielsweise als Gürtel getragen wird |
Where the eye mixes cock and cord
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cock and cord follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cock with cord
A purely visual mix-up. cock ([kɒk]) and cord ([kɔː(r)d]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cock is recorded at frequency rank #38,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɒk]. cord is at rank #36,862, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔː(r)d].
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 74891, this pair ranks #321,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cock vs cord
Shared letters: co. Private to "cock": k. Private to "cord": dr.
"cock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cord" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cock" for "cord" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cock" vs "cord" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cord" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cock" and "cord" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs cock". 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 #321,748 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.