Which to use
“cribs” and “crows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,067
- “cribs” frequency rank
- #15,596
- “crows” frequency rank
- 56663
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cribs | crows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crib | plural of crow |
Where the eye mixes cribs and crows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cribs and crows
A purely visual mix-up. cribs (/kɹɪbz/) and crows (/kɹəʊz/) 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 56663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cribs is recorded at frequency rank #41,067, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹɪbz/. crows is at rank #15,596, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹəʊz/.
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 56663, this pair ranks #124,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cribs vs crows
Shared letters: crs. Private to "cribs": bi. Private to "crows": ow.
"cribs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cribs" and "crows" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cribs" or "crows"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cribs" and "crows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cribs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cribs" and "crows" 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 #124,613 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.