Which to use
“loaning” is a verb and “locking” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,905
- “loaning” frequency rank
- #10,231
- “locking” frequency rank
- 55136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loaning | locking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of loan | gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked. |
Letter map: loaning vs locking
Shared letters muted; letters that set loaning and locking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Part-of-speech tell for loaning / locking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: loaning is averb and lockinganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loaning is recorded at frequency rank #44,905, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈləʊnɪŋ/. locking is at rank #10,231, tagged as anoun.
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 55136, this pair ranks #135,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of loaning vs locking
Shared letters: gilno. Private to "loaning": a. Private to "locking": ck.
"loaning" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "locking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loaning" and "locking" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "loaning" vs "locking" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "loaning" and "locking".
- Full dictionary entry for "loaning" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loaning" and "locking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loaning vs loring". 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 #135,935 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.