lashvslbsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lash” and “lbs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,657
“lash” frequency rank
#6,489
“lbs” frequency rank
24146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lash lbs
Definition The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given. plural of lb; pounds

Where the eye mixes lash and lbs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lash
3 ch
lbs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lash (/læʃ/) 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 24146, 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/. 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 24146, this pair ranks #404,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lash vs lbs

Shared letters: ls. Private to "lash": ah. Private to "lbs": b.

"lash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lbs" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lashalsh · lahs · lashh · lassh · llash · lsah

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lash" and "lbs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/læʃ/ versus /paʊndz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lash" or "lbs"?
"lbs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,489 in our English list, against #17,657 for "lash". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "lash" and "lbs". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lash" 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 #404,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lash" and "lbs" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list