English homophones
curb/kerb
"curb" (#9,728 written frequency) beats "kerb" (#46,571) in this 2-word /kɝb/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /kɝb/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "curb" leads at #9,728, with "kerb" trailing at #46,571.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "curb" is 4 letters, "kerb" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across curb, kerb: br. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
curb
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory bcru · private cu
kerb
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory bekr · private ek
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "curb" when you mean: A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand).
- Write "kerb" when you mean: Alternative spelling of curb.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (curb, kerb). Here's where to go from here.
- "curb" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #9,728 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: crossing · xing. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "curb, kerb" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.