Which to use
“plough” and “plow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,887
- “plough” frequency rank
- #22,176
- “plow” frequency rank
- 48063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plough | plow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting. | Alternative spelling of plough. |
Same sound, different letters: plough vs plow
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - plough / plow
This is the hard kind. plough and plow are pronounced identically (/plaʊ/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plough is recorded at frequency rank #25,887, classified as anoun, pronounced /plaʊ/. plow is at rank #22,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced /plaʊ/.
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 48063, this pair ranks #196,639 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of plough vs plow
Shared letters: lop. Private to "plough": ghu. Private to "plow": w.
"plough" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "plow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plough" and "plow" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "plough" or "plow" 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 "plough" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,639 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plough" and "plow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Palos vs plow". 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 #196,639 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.