# holds vs how's

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### holds
*noun · IPA /həʊldz/ · frequency rank #2,488*
plural of hold

### how's
*contraction · IPA /haʊz/ · frequency rank #7,699*
Contraction of how + is.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holds-vs-how-s