Which to use
“calling” and “crawling” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,159
- “calling” frequency rank
- #13,128
- “crawling” frequency rank
- 14287
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calling | crawling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of call | present participle and gerund of crawl |
Where the eye mixes calling and crawling
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between calling and crawling
A purely visual mix-up. calling (/ˈkɔːlɪŋ/) and crawling (/ˈkɹɔːlɪŋ/) 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 14287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calling is recorded at frequency rank #1,159, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɔːlɪŋ/. crawling is at rank #13,128, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɹɔːlɪŋ/.
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 14287, this pair ranks #470,947 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of calling vs crawling
Shared letters: acgiln. Private to "calling": -. Private to "crawling": rw.
"calling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "crawling" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "calling" and "crawling" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "calling" vs "crawling" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "calling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crawling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #470,947 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calling" and "crawling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabling vs crawling". 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 #470,947 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.