Which to use
“cos” and “cross” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,553
- “cos” frequency rank
- #1,073
- “cross” frequency rank
- 7626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cos | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce. | A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least one of them is bisected by the other. |
Where the eye mixes cos and cross
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cos and cross
A purely visual mix-up. cos (/kɑs/) and cross (/kɹɒs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cos is recorded at frequency rank #6,553, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɑs/. cross is at rank #1,073, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹɒs/.
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 7626, this pair ranks #506,303 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cos vs cross
Shared letters: cos. Private to "cos": -. Private to "cross": r.
"cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cross ← ccross · corss · cros · crross · crsos · rcoss
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cos" and "cross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cos" vs "cross" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cos" and "cross" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #506,303 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cos" and "cross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cos". 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 #506,303 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.