Which to use
“craps” and “cribs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,939
- “craps” frequency rank
- #41,067
- “cribs” frequency rank
- 78006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | craps | cribs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A game of gambling, or chance, where the players throw dice to make scores and avoid crap. | plural of crib |
Where the eye mixes craps and cribs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. craps and cribs follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: craps vs cribs
A purely visual mix-up. craps (/kɹæps/) and cribs (/kɹɪbz/) 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 78006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
craps is recorded at frequency rank #36,939, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹæps/. cribs is at rank #41,067, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹɪbz/.
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 78006, this pair ranks #25,731 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of craps vs cribs
Shared letters: crs. Private to "craps": ap. Private to "cribs": bi.
"craps" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cribs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "craps" and "cribs" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "craps" or "cribs"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "craps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cribs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,731 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "craps" and "cribs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cribs vs Crist". 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 #25,731 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.