cruise
/kɹuz/noun, verb
cruise is spelled C-R-U-I-S-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cruise means “A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cruise is cruises.
How many letters and syllables are in cruise?
| Letters | 6: C-R-U-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cruise?
Cruise appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cruise?
- UK /kɹuːz/
- British /kɹʉwz/
- US /kɹuz/
Cruise has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cruise.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cruise
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: Cruz (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with cruise?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cruise from its last stressed vowel (/uz/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cruise
- cruises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cruising participle, present
- cruised participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cruise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure.
- 2
Portion of aircraft travel at a constant airspeed and altitude between ascent and descent phases.
- 3
USinformalA period spent in the Marine Corps.
- 4
A car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group.
Near-synonym: car show
- 5
slangA period of reducing the dosage of PEDs instead of cycling them off as opposed to a full-dosed cycle (blast).
- 6
A small cup; cruse.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and d
verb
- 1
To sail about, especially for pleasure.
the romance of cruising down the Nile
- 2
To travel at constant speed for maximum operating efficiency.
- 3
To move about an area leisurely in the hope of discovering something, or looking for custom.
- 4
To inspect (forest land) for the purpose of estimating the quantity of lumber it will yield.
- 5
colloquialTo actively seek a romantic partner or casual sexual partner by moving about a particular area; to troll.
- 6
colloquialTo attempt to pick up as a casual sexual partner; hit on
- 7
To walk while holding on to an object (stage in development of ambulation, typically occurring at 10 months).
- 8
To win easily and convincingly.
Germany cruised to a World Cup victory over the short-handed Australians.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cruise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | croisière |
| German | Kreuzfahrt, Seereise |
| Portuguese | cruzeiro , caçar |
| Spanish | crucero , navegar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cruise come from?
Borrowed from Dutch kruisen (“cross, sail around”), from kruis (“cross”), from Middle Dutch cruce, from Latin crux.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).