bycatch
"bycatch" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bycatch” is uncommon English (frequency #72,159 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #72,159
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any fish (or other creatures) that are not targeted as a catch but are unintentionally caught, and often discarded back into the sea.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bycatch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #72,159 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bycatch” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bycatch is uncommon English at frequency #72,159 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
bycatch has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From by- + catch. The correct English form is bycatch, spelled B-Y-C-A-T-C-H.
Definition
- 1Any fish (or other creatures) that are not targeted as a catch but are unintentionally caught, and often discarded back into the sea.
- 2Any person, animal, or thing, captured unintentionally on camera or film.
Etymology
From by- + catch.
This word in other languages
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 “bycatch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-Y-C-A-T-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.