# tailings vs trailing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### tailings
*noun · frequency rank #42,443*
The waste that remains after the minerals have been extracted from an ore by ore dressing; the waste from coal mining.

### trailing
*adjective · IPA /ˈtɹeɪ.lɪŋ/ · frequency rank #14,038*
That converge in the direction of travel.

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