Which to use
“laws” and “lbs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,370
- “laws” frequency rank
- #6,489
- “lbs” frequency rank
- 7859
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laws | lbs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of law | plural of lb; pounds |
Where the eye mixes laws and lbs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laws with lbs
A purely visual mix-up. laws (/lɔːz/) 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 7859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laws is recorded at frequency rank #1,370, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɔːz/. 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 7859, this pair ranks #505,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laws vs lbs
Shared letters: ls. Private to "laws": aw. Private to "lbs": b.
"laws" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lbs" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laws ← alws · lasw · lawss · lawws · llaws · lwas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laws" for "lbs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laws" vs "lbs" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "laws" 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 #505,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laws" and "lbs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lbs 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 #505,252 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.