Which to use
“bolus” and “bulbs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,942
- “bolus” frequency rank
- #13,876
- “bulbs” frequency rank
- 60818
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bolus | bulbs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal. | plural of bulb |
Where the eye mixes bolus and bulbs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bolus and bulbs
A purely visual mix-up. bolus (/ˈbəʊləs/) and bulbs (/bʌlbz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60818, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bolus is recorded at frequency rank #46,942, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbəʊləs/. bulbs is at rank #13,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌlbz/.
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 60818, this pair ranks #97,905 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bolus vs bulbs
Shared letters: blsu. Private to "bolus": o. Private to "bulbs": -.
"bolus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bulbs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bolus" for "bulbs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bolus" or "bulbs"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bolus" and "bulbs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bolus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bulbs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,905 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bolus" and "bulbs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes vs bolus". 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 #97,905 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.