crapsvscribsWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

5 ch
craps
5 ch
cribs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • crapscarps · ccraps · crapps · crapss · crasp · crpas · crraps · rcaps
  • cribsccribs · cirbs · crbis · cribbs · cribss · crisb · crribs · rcibs

Frequency comparison

craps#36,939
cribs#41,067

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "craps" and "cribs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɹæps/ versus /kɹɪbz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "craps" or "cribs"?
"craps" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,939 in our English list, against #41,067 for "cribs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering craps vs cribs

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 “craps” 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