Which to use
“holes” and “hoss” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,949
- “holes” frequency rank
- #46,520
- “hoss” frequency rank
- 50469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holes | hoss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hole | Pronunciation spelling of horse. |
Where the eye mixes holes and hoss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. holes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against hoss's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: holes vs hoss
A purely visual mix-up. holes (/həʊlz/) and hoss (/hɔːs/) 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 50469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holes is recorded at frequency rank #3,949, classified as anoun, pronounced /həʊlz/. hoss is at rank #46,520, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɔːs/.
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 50469, this pair ranks #173,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of holes vs hoss
Shared letters: hos. Private to "holes": el. Private to "hoss": -.
"holes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hoss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "holes" for "hoss" ever safe?
Which is more common, "holes" or "hoss"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "holes" and "hoss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "holes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "holes" and "hoss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs hoss". 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 #173,995 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.