Which to use
“toed” is an adjective and “tow” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,990
- “toed” frequency rank
- #10,950
- “tow” frequency rank
- 46940
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toed | tow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having (a specified number or type of) toes. | To pull something behind one, such as by using a line, chain, or tongue. |
Where the eye mixes toed and tow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between toed and tow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toed is /təʊd/ while tow is /təʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toed is recorded at frequency rank #35,990, classified as anadj, pronounced /təʊd/. tow is at rank #10,950, tagged as averb, pronounced /təʊ/.
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 46940, this pair ranks #207,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of toed vs tow
Shared letters: ot. Private to "toed": de. Private to "tow": w.
"toed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "tow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- toed ← oted · teod · tode · toedd · ttoed
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "toed" and "tow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "toed" vs "tow" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "toed" and "tow" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "toed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "toed" and "tow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toed vs Toth". 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 #207,074 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.