Lb or pound?
lb is a noun meaning “Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”)”; pound is a noun meaning “A unit of weight in various measurement systems”. They sound the same (/paʊnd/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) pound is about 2.5 times as common as lb.
What is the difference between lb and pound?
| lb | pound | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | leg bye | A unit of weight in various measurement systems Various non-English units of measure A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals |
| Example | none recorded | When I short haue shorne my sowce face & swigg’d my horny barrell, In an oaken Inne I pound my skin as a suite of guilt apparrell |
| Forms | lbs, lbs. lbs lbs. | pounds |
| Pronunciation | /paʊnd/ | /ˈpaʊ̯nd/ [ˈpʰaʊ̯nd] /ˈpæʊ̯nd/ |
| In writing | 8.5 times per million words | 21 times per million words |
Sources: lb and pound in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of lb and pound
lb
- 1
Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”)
- 2
leg bye
- 3
Alternative form of lb: Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”)
- 4
Initialism of left back
- 5
Alternative form of lb: Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”)
- 6
Alternative form of lb: Abbreviation of pound (“unit of weight”)
- 7
Initialism of linebacker
- 8
Initialism of lower bracket
pound
- 1
A unit of weight in various measurement systems
- 2
UKslangTo wager a pound on
- 3
A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals
- 4
To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound
When I short haue shorne my sowce face & swigg’d my horny barrell, In an oaken Inne I pound my skin as a suite of guilt apparrell
- 5
To strike hard, usually repeatedly
- 6
A hard blow
- 7
Ellipsis of pound weight
- 8
The people who work for the pound
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, lb or pound?
lb appears 8.5 times per million words; pound 21 times per million words.
lb 8.5 times per million wordspound 21 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search lb vs pound?
“lb vs pound” is searched about 590 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“pound vs lb”, “lb or pound”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.