Which to use
“biter” and “bites” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,936
- “biter” frequency rank
- #9,708
- “bites” frequency rank
- 56644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | biter | bites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Agent noun of bite; someone or something who bites or tends to bite. | plural of bite |
Where the eye mixes biter and bites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses biter with bites
A purely visual mix-up. biter (/ˈbaɪtɚ/) and bites (/baɪts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - r in “biter” becomes s in “bites”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
biter is recorded at frequency rank #46,936, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɪtɚ/. 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 56644, this pair ranks #124,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of biter vs bites
Shared letters: beit. Private to "biter": r. Private to "bites": s.
"biter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "biter" and "bites" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "biter" or "bites" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "biter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "biter" and "bites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bicker vs biter". 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 #124,777 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.