Which to use
“lash” and “lashes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,657
- “lash” frequency rank
- #16,267
- “lashes” frequency rank
- 33924
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lash | lashes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given. | plural of lash |
Where the eye mixes lash and lashes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lash and lashes
A purely visual mix-up. lash (/læʃ/) and lashes (/ˈlæʃɪz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “lash” sits inside “lashes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lash is recorded at frequency rank #17,657, classified as anoun, pronounced /læʃ/. lashes is at rank #16,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlæʃɪz/.
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 33924, this pair ranks #325,234 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lash vs lashes
Shared letters: ahls. Private to "lash": -. Private to "lashes": e.
"lash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lashes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lash" and "lashes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lash" or "lashes"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lashes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,234 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lash" and "lashes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lash 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 #325,234 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.