carrier pigeon
"carrier-pigeon" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carrier pigeon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A domestic pigeon which transports attached messages or very small parcels from the place where it is released to a familiar destination.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carrier pigeon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carrier pigeon” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
carrier pigeon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A domestic pigeon which transports attached messages or very small parcels from the place where it is released to a familiar destination.".
carrier pigeon doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is carrier pigeon, spelled C-A-R-R-I-E-R- -P-I-G-E-O-N.
Definition
- 1A domestic pigeon which transports attached messages or very small parcels from the place where it is released to a familiar destination.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "carrier pigeon"?
What does "carrier pigeon" mean?
What language does "carrier pigeon" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “carrier pigeon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-R-I-E-R- -P-I-G-E-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.