Scull or skull?
scull is a noun meaning “A single oar mounted at the stern of a boat and moved from side to side to…”; skull is a noun meaning “The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial…”. They sound the same (/skʌl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) skull is about 63 times as common as scull.
What is the difference between scull and skull?
| scull | skull | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A single oar mounted at the stern of a boat and moved from side to side to propel the boat forward One of a pair of oars handled by a single rower To row a boat using a scull or sculls | The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial bones, and mandible These bones as a symbol for death; death's-head To hit in the head with a fist, a weapon, or a thrown object |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | sculls | skulls |
| Pronunciation | /skʌl/ /skʊl/ | /ˈskʌl/ /skʊl/ |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words | 12 times per million words |
Sources: scull and skull 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 scull and skull
scull
- 1
A single oar mounted at the stern of a boat and moved from side to side to propel the boat forward
- 2
To row a boat using a scull or sculls
- 3
A skull cap. A small bowl-shaped helmet, without visor or bever
- 4
AustraliaslangTo drink the entire contents of a drinking vessel without pausing
- 5
The skua gull
- 6
One of a pair of oars handled by a single rower
- 7
To skate while keeping both feet in contact with the ground or ice
- 8
A small rowing boat, for one person
skull
- 1
The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial bones, and mandible
- 2
To hit in the head with a fist, a weapon, or a thrown object
- 3
These bones as a symbol for death; death's-head
- 4
To strike the top of (the ball)
- 5
The mind or brain
- 6
To drink everything that remains in a glass by upending it
- 7
A crust formed on the ladle, etc. by the partial cooling of molten metal
- 8
The crown of the headpiece in armour
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, scull or skull?
scull appears about once in every 5 million words; skull 12 times per million words.
scull about once in every 5 million wordsskull 12 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 scull vs skull?
“scull vs skull” is searched about 70 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“skull vs scull”, “scull or skull”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.