bondvsboxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bond” and “box” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,517
“bond” frequency rank
#962
“box” frequency rank
3479
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bond box
Definition A document constituting evidence of a long-term debt, by which the bond issuer (the borrower) is obliged to pay interest when due, and repay the principal at maturity, as specified on the face of the bond certificate. The rights of the holder are specified in the bond indenture, which contains the legal terms and conditions under which the bond was issued. Bonds are available in two forms: registered bonds, and bearer bonds. Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

Where the eye mixes bond and box

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bond
3 ch
box

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bond (/bɒnd/) and box (/bɒks/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bond is recorded at frequency rank #2,517, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɒnd/. box is at rank #962, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɒks/.

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 3479, this pair ranks #521,988 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bond vs box

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bond": dn. Private to "box": x.

"bond" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "box" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bondbbond · bnod · bodn · bondd · bonnd · obnd

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bond" and "box" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bɒnd/ versus /bɒks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bond" or "box"?
"box" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #962 in our English list, against #2,517 for "bond". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list