digvsdoxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dig is a verb, dox is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dig” is a verb and “dox” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,940
“dig” frequency rank
#49,882
“dox” frequency rank
54822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dig dox
Definition To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way. plural of doc

Letter map: dig vs dox

Shared letters muted; letters that set dig and dox apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
dig
3 ch
dox

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dig is averb and doxanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dig is recorded at frequency rank #4,940, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪɡ/. dox is at rank #49,882, tagged as anoun.

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 54822, this pair ranks #138,211 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dig vs dox

Shared letters: d. Private to "dig": gi. Private to "dox": ox.

"dig" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dig" and "dox" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dig" is a verb and "dox" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dig" or "dox"?
"dig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,940 in our English list, against #49,882 for "dox". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list