Which to use
“grill” is a noun and “grind” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,049
- “grill” frequency rank
- #7,795
- “grind” frequency rank
- 16844
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grill | grind |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A grating; a grid of wire or a sheet of material with a pattern of holes or slots, usually used to protect something while allowing the passage of air and liquids. Typical uses: to allow air through a fan while preventing fingers or objects from passing; to allow people to talk to somebody, while preventing attack. | To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion. |
Where the eye mixes grill and grind
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grill is /ɡɹɪl/ while grind is /ˈɡɹaɪnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grill is recorded at frequency rank #9,049, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹɪl/. grind is at rank #7,795, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɡɹaɪnd/.
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 16844, this pair ranks #455,248 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grill vs grind
Shared letters: gir. Private to "grill": l. Private to "grind": dn.
"grill" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grind" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grill" and "grind" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grill" or "grind"?
What to do next
You've compared "grill" and "grind". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "grill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grind" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,248 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grill" and "grind" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grill vs grimly". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.