Cruise or cruse?
cruise is a noun meaning “A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure”; cruse is a noun meaning “An oil lamp; a crusy”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) cruise is about 110 times as common as cruse.
What is the difference between cruise and cruse?
| cruise | cruse | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure Portion of aircraft travel at a constant airspeed and altitude between ascent and descent phases To sail about, especially for pleasure | An oil lamp; a crusy |
| Example | Near-synonym: car show | With a thought I tooke for Maudline & a cruse of cockle pottage. with a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all: I befell into this dotage |
| Forms | cruises | cruses |
| Pronunciation | /kɹuːz/ /kɹʉwz/ /kɹuz/ | /kɹuːs/ /kɹuːz/ |
| In writing | 17 times per million words | about once in every 7 million words |
Sources: cruise and cruse in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of cruise and cruse
cruise
- 1
A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure
- 2
To sail about, especially for pleasure
the romance of cruising down the Nile
- 3
A small cup; cruse
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go…
- 4
Portion of aircraft travel at a constant airspeed and altitude between ascent and descent phases
- 5
To travel at constant speed for maximum operating efficiency
- 6
USinformalA period spent in the Marine Corps
- 7
To move about an area leisurely in the hope of discovering something, or looking for custom
- 8
A car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group
Near-synonym: car show
cruse
- 1
An oil lamp; a crusy
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, cruise or cruse?
cruise appears 17 times per million words; cruse about once in every 7 million words.
cruise 17 times per million wordscruse about once in every 7 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).