Which to use
“lah” and “leach” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,894
- “lah” frequency rank
- #20,983
- “leach” frequency rank
- 65877
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lah | leach |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of la. | A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali. |
Where the eye mixes lah and leach
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lah with leach
A purely visual mix-up. lah (/lɑː/) and leach (/liːt͡ʃ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lah is recorded at frequency rank #44,894, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/. leach is at rank #20,983, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːt͡ʃ/.
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 65877, this pair ranks #70,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lah vs leach
Shared letters: ahl. Private to "lah": -. Private to "leach": ce.
"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "leach" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leach ← elach · laech · leacch · leachh · leahc · lecah · lleach
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lah" and "leach" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lah" vs "leach" - 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 "lah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leach" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lah" and "leach" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lah vs LSC". 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 #70,648 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.