catch a cold
"catch-a-cold" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catch a cold” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To contract a cold.
Corpus desk
Index EN-catch-a-cold · catch a cold · English
catch a cold · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catch a cold |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catch a cold” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catch a cold is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for catch a cold, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is catch a cold, spelled C-A-T-C-H- -A- -C-O-L-D.
Definition
- 1To contract a cold.
- 2To encounter difficulties.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catch a cold appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Don't catch a cold because of the state pension freeze.
If the U.S. goes into recession in 2021, the rest of the world is expected to catch a cold.
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.