Which to use
“dose” and “dyke” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,124
- “dose” frequency rank
- #17,827
- “dyke” frequency rank
- 22951
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dose | dyke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time. | A long, narrow hollow dug from the ground to serve as a boundary marker. |
Where the eye mixes dose and dyke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dose vs dyke
A purely visual mix-up. dose (/dəʊs/) and dyke (/daɪk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dose is recorded at frequency rank #5,124, classified as anoun, pronounced /dəʊs/. dyke is at rank #17,827, tagged as anoun, pronounced /daɪk/.
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 22951, this pair ranks #412,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dose vs dyke
Shared letters: de. Private to "dose": os. Private to "dyke": ky.
"dose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dyke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dose" for "dyke" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dose" or "dyke"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dose" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dyke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dose" and "dyke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dikes vs dyke". 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 #412,845 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.