# star vs stave

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### star
*noun · IPA /stɑː(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #666*
Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.

### stave
*noun · IPA /steɪv/ · frequency rank #27,656*
One of a number of narrow strips of wood, or narrow iron plates, placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel or structure; especially, one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, barrel, pail, etc.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/star-vs-stave