craw
/kɹɔː/
"craw" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“craw” is uncommon English (frequency #60,734 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #60,734
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The stomach of an animal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | craw |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹɔː/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #60,734 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “craw” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
craw is uncommon English at frequency #60,734 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹɔː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for craw, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Late Middle English, also attested as craue, from or related to Middle Dutch crāghe or Middle Low German crāghe (“collar, neck”), from Proto-Germanic *kragô (“throat”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʷrogʰ- or *gʷrh₃-gʰ- (“throat, gullet”), whence also… The correct English form is craw, spelled C-R-A-W.
Definition
- 1The stomach of an animal.
- 2The crop of a bird.
Etymology
Late Middle English, also attested as craue, from or related to Middle Dutch crāghe or Middle Low German crāghe (“collar, neck”), from Proto-Germanic *kragô (“throat”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʷrogʰ- or *gʷrh₃-gʰ- (“throat, gullet”), whence also Proto-Celtic *brāgants (“throat, gullet”) and perhaps Ancient Greek βρόχθος (brókhthos, “throat”). The root appears to be an extension of Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to swallow, devour”), though the identity and meaning of the suffix is unclear. Compare Latin gurges (“gulf, bay; whirlpool, eddy”). Other Germanic cognates include Danish krave, German Kragen (“collar”) and Old Dutch kraga (“neck”) (whence modern Dutch kraag). See also crag (Etymology 2).
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 “craw”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-A-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɹɔː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.