# wick vs wince

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### wick
*noun · IPA /wɪk/ · frequency rank #18,737*
A braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame.

### wince
*noun · IPA /wɪns/ · frequency rank #46,866*
A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.

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