Which to use
“holds” and “holm” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,488
- “holds” frequency rank
- #34,526
- “holm” frequency rank
- 37014
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holds | holm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hold | Small island, islet. |
Where the eye mixes holds and holm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between holds and holm
A purely visual mix-up. holds (/həʊldz/) and holm (/həʊm/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holds is recorded at frequency rank #2,488, classified as anoun, pronounced /həʊldz/. holm is at rank #34,526, tagged as anoun, pronounced /həʊm/.
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 37014, this pair ranks #298,157 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of holds vs holm
Shared letters: hlo. Private to "holds": ds. Private to "holm": m.
"holds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "holm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "holds" and "holm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "holds" or "holm"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "holds" and "holm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "holds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,157 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "holds" and "holm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs holm". 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 #298,157 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.