crossbones
/ˈkɹɒsbəʊnz/
"crossbones" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“crossbones” is uncommon English (frequency #65,804 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,804
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A representation of two femurs (thighbones) crossed diagonally, chiefly combined with a human skull as a symbol of danger or death.
Corpus desk
Index EN-crossbones · crossbones · English
crossbones · rank #65,804 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #65,804
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 43,570
- PHOTO-FINISH cringy
Nearest frequency peer: cringy (-1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “crossbones”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cowling
cowling
34,204 corpus weight
- cravat
cravat
34,201 corpus weight
- creditworth…
creditworthiness
34,200 corpus weight
- CRF
CRF
34,199 corpus weight
- cringy
cringy
34,198 corpus weight
- crossbones
crossbones
34,197 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “crossbones” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | crossbones |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɹɒsbəʊnz/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #65,804 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “crossbones” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
crossbones is uncommon English at frequency #65,804 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɹɒsbəʊnz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A representation of two femurs (thighbones) crossed diagonally, chiefly combined with a human skull as a symbol of danger or death.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for crossbones, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cross + bones. The correct English form is crossbones, spelled C-R-O-S-S-B-O-N-E-S.
Definition
- 1A representation of two femurs (thighbones) crossed diagonally, chiefly combined with a human skull as a symbol of danger or death.
Etymology
From cross + bones.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "crossbones", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency 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.