copsvscropWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,476
“cops” frequency rank
#5,591
“crop” frequency rank
9067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cops crop
Definition plural of cop A plant, grown for it, or its fruits or seeds, to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, or fuel or for any other economic purpose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cops and crop apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cops
4 ch
crop

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

cops and crop form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cops is recorded at frequency rank #3,476, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɒps/. crop is at rank #5,591, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹɒp/.

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 9067, this pair ranks #499,257 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

cops#3,476
crop#5,591

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cops" and "crop" be used interchangeably?
No, "cops" and "crop" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering cops vs crop

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cops” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list