bicker
/ˈbɪkɚ/
"bicker" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bicker” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,220 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #49,220
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bicker |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbɪkɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #49,220 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bicker” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bicker is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɪkɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,220 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bicker, with forms such as "bbicker", "bciker", and "biccker". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bike", "biker", "biter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bikeren (“to attack”), from Middle Dutch bicken (“to stab, thrust, attack”) + -er (frequentative suffix), from Old Dutch *bikken, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjan, from Proto-Germanic *bikjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to smash… The correct English form is bicker, spelled B-I-C-K-E-R.
Definition
- 1To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner.
- 2To brawl or move tremulously, quiver, shimmer (of a water stream, light, flame, etc.)
- 3To patter.
- 4To skirmish; to exchange blows; to fight.
Etymology
From Middle English bikeren (“to attack”), from Middle Dutch bicken (“to stab, thrust, attack”) + -er (frequentative suffix), from Old Dutch *bikken, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjan, from Proto-Germanic *bikjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to smash, break”). See also Old English becca (“pickax”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”), German picken (“to peck, pick at”), Old Norse bikkja (“to plunge into water”); compare also German Low German bickern (“to nibble, gnaw”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbicker,bciker,biccker,bicekr,bickerr,bickker,bickre,bikcer,ibcker
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bicker - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bicker”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-C-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɪkɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bike” - see the side-by-side comparison. bicker vs bike
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.