Which to use
“laps” and “lbs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,910
- “laps” frequency rank
- #6,489
- “lbs” frequency rank
- 18399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laps | lbs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lap | plural of lb; pounds |
Where the eye mixes laps and lbs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between laps and lbs
A purely visual mix-up. laps (/læps/) and lbs (/paʊndz/) 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 18399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laps is recorded at frequency rank #11,910, classified as anoun, pronounced /læps/. lbs is at rank #6,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced /paʊndz/.
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 18399, this pair ranks #445,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laps vs lbs
Shared letters: ls. Private to "laps": ap. Private to "lbs": b.
"laps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lbs" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laps ← lapps · lapss · lasp · llaps · lpas
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laps" and "lbs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "laps" or "lbs"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lbs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #445,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laps" and "lbs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laps vs lope". 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 #445,163 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.