Doc or dock?
doc is a noun meaning “A doctor”; dock is a noun meaning “Any of the genus Rumex of coarse weedy plants with small green flowers related…”. They sound the same (/dɒk/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) doc is about 2.3 times as common as dock.
What is the difference between doc and dock?
| doc | dock | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | informalA doctor informalA document, especially (in professional jargon) a piece of technical documentation or legal evidence informalA documentary | 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… A burdock plant, or the leaves of that plant The fleshy root of an animal's tail; specifically after clipping or cutting |
| Example | Nice pair of Docs you've got on there, bro! | Her wages were docked by ten dollars |
| Forms | docs | docks |
| Pronunciation | /dɒk/ /dɑk/ | /dɒk/ /dɔk/ /dɑk/ |
| In writing | 23 times per million words | 9.8 times per million words |
Sources: doc and dock 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 doc and dock
doc
- 1
informalA doctor
- 2
informalA document, especially (in professional jargon) a piece of technical documentation or legal evidence
- 3
informalA documentary
- 4
Clipping of doctorate
- 5
slangA Doc Marten shoe or boot
Nice pair of Docs you've got on there, bro!
- 6
Any of several controlled designations of origin for wine, cheese, or other products
Near-synonym: AOC
- 7
Abbreviation of document
- 8
Initialism of Denominazione di origine controllata
dock
- 1
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…
- 2
The fleshy root of an animal's tail; specifically after clipping or cutting
- 3
To clip or cut off a section of an animal's tail; to practise a caudectomy
- 4
USA fixed structure attached to shore to which a vessel is secured when in port; usually for loading and unloading
- 5
To land at a harbour
On 28 February, for example, a US Navy ship docked in Nampo, the port for Pyongyang, with equipment for joint searches for remains of US soldiers missing from the 1950-1953 Korean…
- 6
Part of a courtroom where the accused sits
- 7
A burdock plant, or the leaves of that plant
- 8
A leather case used to cover the clipped or cut tail of a horse
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, doc or dock?
doc appears 23 times per million words; dock 9.8 times per million words.
doc 23 times per million wordsdock 9.8 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).