Which to use
“pedal” is a noun and “peddle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,294
- “pedal” frequency rank
- #39,021
- “peddle” frequency rank
- 51315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pedal | peddle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano. | To sell things, especially door to door or in insignificant quantities. |
Same sound, different letters: pedal vs peddle
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. pedal runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against peddle's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - pedal / peddle
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: pedal and peddle carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ˈpɛdəl/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pedal is recorded at frequency rank #12,294, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛdəl/. peddle is at rank #39,021, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɛdəl/.
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 51315, this pair ranks #166,543 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pedal vs peddle
Shared letters: delp. Private to "pedal": a. Private to "peddle": -.
"pedal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "peddle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pedal" for "peddle" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "pedal" or "peddle" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "pedal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peddle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,543 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pedal" and "peddle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peddle vs perdue". 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 #166,543 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.