Which to use
“cates” and “crate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- #15,594
- “crate” frequency rank
- 63717
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cates | crate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. | A large open box or basket, used especially to transport fragile goods. |
Letter map: cates vs crate
Shared letters muted; letters that set cates and crate apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. cates (CVCVC) and crate (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Corpus notes: cates and crate
cates and crate are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cates is recorded at frequency rank #48,123, classified as anoun. crate is at rank #15,594, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹeɪt/.
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 63717, this pair ranks #81,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cates vs crate
Shared letters: acet. Private to "cates": s. Private to "crate": r.
"cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "crate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cates" and "crate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "cates" or "crate" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "cates" vs "crate" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "cates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cates" and "crate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #81,447 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.