Which to use
“clause” and “claws” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,205
- “clause” frequency rank
- #13,683
- “claws” frequency rank
- 20888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clause | claws |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group of words that contains a subject and a verb; it may be part of a sentence or may constitute the whole sentence, depending on the syntax in each instance. | plural of claw |
Same sound, different letters: clause vs claws
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - clause / claws
This is the hard kind. clause and claws are pronounced identically (/klɔːz/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clause is recorded at frequency rank #7,205, classified as anoun, pronounced /klɔːz/. claws is at rank #13,683, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɔːz/.
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 20888, this pair ranks #427,955 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clause vs claws
Shared letters: acls. Private to "clause": eu. Private to "claws": w.
"clause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "claws" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clause" and "claws" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "clause" or "claws"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "clause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "claws" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,955 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clause" and "claws" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caw vs claws". 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 #427,955 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.