cull

/kʌl/

//kʌl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cull" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cull” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #30,384) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#30,384
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).

Corpus desk

Index EN-cull · cull · English

cull · rank #30,384 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,384
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH culver

Nearest frequency peer: culver (+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 neighbours of confusable “cull”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cull” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cull vs cut
50% similar
cull vs cup
50% similar
cull vs cum
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cull
PropertyValue
Headwordcull
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/kʌl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#30,384
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cull”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).culllands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “culver” (#30,385), “Crewe” (#30,382), “Cymru” (#30,386). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cull” is #30,384. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cull is neighbouring look-alikes ("cut", "cup", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /kʌl/. Frequency #30,384 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for cull, with forms such as "ccull", "clul", and "cul". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cut", "cup", "cum", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil. The correct English form is cull, spelled C-U-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
  2. 2
    To gather, collect.
  3. 3
    To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
  4. 4
    To kill (animals, etc).
  5. 5
    To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.
  6. 6
    To selectively not render or process certain objects, such as polygons.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cull appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 1984, cover star: JOE DALLESANDRO culled from Andy Warhol's FLESH — anonymous; sleeve notes from The Smiths' eponymous album
  2. [T]he yellowbanded bees, / Through half-open lattices / Coming in the scented breeze, / Fed thee, a child, lying alone, / With whitest honey in fairy gardens culled— […]

Etymology

From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil.

This word in other languages

entresacar(Español)cueillir(Français)pflücken(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccull
  • clul
  • cul
  • ucll

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cull - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccull1clul2cul1ucll2
Edit distance from "cull"

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

How do you spell "cull"?
"cull" is spelled C-U-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /kʌl/.
What does "cull" mean?
As a verb, "cull" means: To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
What words are commonly confused with "cull"?
"cull" is commonly confused with "cut", "cup", "cum". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cull"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cull" is /kʌl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cull"?
From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cull", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coax#30,368gabi#30,435Arun#30,319ight#30,453

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list