Which to use
“lab” and “lb” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,506
- “lab” frequency rank
- #7,936
- “lb” frequency rank
- 11442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lab | lb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A laboratory. | Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”). |
Where the eye mixes lab and lb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lab with lb
A purely visual mix-up. lab (/læb/) and lb (/paʊnd/) 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 11442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lab is recorded at frequency rank #3,506, classified as anoun, pronounced /læb/. lb is at rank #7,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced /paʊnd/.
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 11442, this pair ranks #487,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lab vs lb
Shared letters: bl. Private to "lab": a. Private to "lb": -.
"lab" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lb" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lab" and "lb" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lab" vs "lb" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lab" and "lb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lb vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #487,017 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.