Which to use
“lance” is a noun and “launch” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,807
- “lance” frequency rank
- #2,079
- “launch” frequency rank
- 9886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lance | launch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen. | To throw (a projectile such as a lance, dart or ball); to hurl; to propel with force. |
Where the eye mixes lance and launch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lance and launch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lance is /lɑːns/ while launch is /lɔːnt͡ʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lance is recorded at frequency rank #7,807, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑːns/. launch is at rank #2,079, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɔːnt͡ʃ/.
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 9886, this pair ranks #495,097 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lance vs launch
Shared letters: acln. Private to "lance": e. Private to "launch": hu.
"lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "launch" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lance" and "launch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lance" or "launch"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lance" and "launch" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "launch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #495,097 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lance" and "launch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lance vs Lanza". 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 #495,097 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.