Which to use
“bind” is a verb and “brink” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,331
- “bind” frequency rank
- #14,709
- “brink” frequency rank
- 25040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bind | brink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To tie; to confine by any ligature. | The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge. |
Where the eye mixes bind and brink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bind and brink
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bind is /baɪnd/ while brink is /bɹɪŋk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bind is recorded at frequency rank #10,331, classified as averb, pronounced /baɪnd/. brink is at rank #14,709, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹɪŋk/.
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 25040, this pair ranks #397,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bind vs brink
Shared letters: bin. Private to "bind": d. Private to "brink": kr.
"bind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "brink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bind" and "brink" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bind" vs "brink" - 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 "bind" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bind" and "brink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brink vs Bruni". 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 #397,399 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.