Which to use
“winch” and “wings” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,701
- “winch” frequency rank
- #3,404
- “wings” frequency rank
- 31105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | winch | wings |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable. | plural of wing |
Where the eye mixes winch and wings
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: winch vs wings
A purely visual mix-up. winch (/wɪnt͡ʃ/) and wings (/wɪŋz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
winch is recorded at frequency rank #27,701, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɪnt͡ʃ/. wings is at rank #3,404, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪŋz/.
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 31105, this pair ranks #348,987 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of winch vs wings
Shared letters: inw. Private to "winch": ch. Private to "wings": gs.
"winch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wings" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "winch" for "wings" ever safe?
Which is more common, "winch" or "wings"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "winch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wings" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,987 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "winch" and "wings" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wicca vs winch". 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 #348,987 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.