Which to use
“dob” is a verb and “dock” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,170
- “dob” frequency rank
- #7,218
- “dock” frequency rank
- 51388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dob | dock |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To report a person to someone in authority for a wrongdoing. (For transitive forms see dob in, dob on.) | Any of the genus Rumex of coarse weedy plants with small green flowers related to buckwheat, especially bitter dock (Rumex obtusifolius), and used as potherbs and in folk medicine, especially in curing nettle rash. |
Where the eye mixes dob and dock
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dob is /dɑb/ while dock is /dɒk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dob is recorded at frequency rank #44,170, classified as averb, pronounced /dɑb/. dock is at rank #7,218, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɒk/.
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 51388, this pair ranks #165,890 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dob vs dock
Shared letters: do. Private to "dob": b. Private to "dock": ck.
"dob" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dock ← dcok · ddock · docck · dockk · dokc · odck