English homophones
laps/lapse
"laps" (#11,910 written frequency) beats "lapse" (#15,206) in this 2-word /læps/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /læps/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "laps" leads at #11,910, with "lapse" trailing at #15,206.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "laps" then splits - "laps" (4 letters) vs "lapse" (5).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across laps, lapse: alps. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
laps
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory alps · no private letters vs siblings
lapse
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCV
Inventory aelps · private e
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "laps" when you mean: plural of lap
- Write "lapse" when you mean: A temporary failure; a slip.
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 (laps, lapse). Here's where to go from here.
- "laps" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #11,910 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: least · leased. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "laps, lapse" 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.