Which to use
“bike” and “bites” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,819
- “bike” frequency rank
- #9,708
- “bites” frequency rank
- 12527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bike | bites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of bicycle. | plural of bite |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bike and bites apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
bike and bites form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bike is recorded at frequency rank #2,819, classified as anoun, pronounced /baɪk/. bites is at rank #9,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced /baɪts/.
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 12527, this pair ranks #481,047 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bike" and "bites" be used interchangeably?
Remembering bike vs bites
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bike” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable