Which to use
“ices” and “IED” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,810
- “ices” frequency rank
- #32,440
- “IED” frequency rank
- 81250
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ices | IED |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ice | Initialism of Intelligent Electronic Device, a sensor, actuator, or PLC used as part of a SCADA system. |
Where the eye mixes ices and IED
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ices runs 4 letters (VCVC) against IED's 3 (VVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ices vs IED
A purely visual mix-up. ices (/ˈaɪsɪz/) and IED (/ˌaɪ iː ˈdiː/) 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 81250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ices is recorded at frequency rank #48,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsɪz/. IED is at rank #32,440, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌaɪ iː ˈdiː/.
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 81250, this pair ranks #18,061 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ices vs IED
Shared letters: ei. Private to "ices": cs. Private to "IED": d.
"ices" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "IED" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ices ← cies · icces · icess · icse · iecs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ices" and "IED" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "ices" or "IED" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ices" and "IED" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "IED" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,061 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ices" and "IED" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ices vs ICJ". 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 #18,061 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.