Which to use
“chokes” and “cloves” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,913
- “chokes” frequency rank
- #26,373
- “cloves” frequency rank
- 58286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chokes | cloves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of choke | plural of clove |
Where the eye mixes chokes and cloves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chokes and cloves follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses chokes with cloves
A purely visual mix-up. chokes (/tʃəʊks/) and cloves (/kləʊvz/) 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 58286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chokes is recorded at frequency rank #31,913, classified as anoun, pronounced /tʃəʊks/. cloves is at rank #26,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kləʊvz/.
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 58286, this pair ranks #113,581 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chokes vs cloves
Shared letters: ceos. Private to "chokes": hk. Private to "cloves": lv.
"chokes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cloves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chokes" for "cloves" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chokes" or "cloves"?
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 "chokes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cloves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #113,581 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chokes" and "cloves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chokes vs Croker". 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 #113,581 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.