Which to use
“cross” and “crows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,073
- “cross” frequency rank
- #15,596
- “crows” frequency rank
- 16669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cross | crows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | plural of crow |
Where the eye mixes cross and crows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cross with crows
A purely visual mix-up. cross (/kɹɒs/) 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 differ by a single letter - s in “cross” becomes w in “crows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cross is recorded at frequency rank #1,073, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹɒs/. 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 16669, this pair ranks #456,292 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cross vs crows
Shared letters: cors. Private to "cross": -. Private to "crows": w.
"cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cross" for "crows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cross" vs "crows" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cross" and "crows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" 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 #456,292 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cross" and "crows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crows". 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 #456,292 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.