grappling hook
/ˈɡɹæp(ə)lɪŋ ˌhʊk/
"grappling-hook" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grappling hook” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of hook attached to a line and designed to be thrown at a target (e.g. rigging of an enemy ship) for the purpose of catching hold of it.
Corpus desk
Index EN-grappling-hook · grappling hook · English
grappling hook · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" 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 | grappling hook |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹæp(ə)lɪŋ ˌhʊk/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “grappling hook” in English
Rare enough to double-check
grappling hook is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡɹæp(ə)lɪŋ ˌhʊk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A type of hook attached to a line and designed to be thrown at a target (e.g. rigging of an enemy ship) for the purpose of catching hold of it.".
Zero misspellings are on record for grappling hook in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is grappling hook, spelled G-R-A-P-P-L-I-N-G- -H-O-O-K.
Definition
- 1A type of hook attached to a line and designed to be thrown at a target (e.g. rigging of an enemy ship) for the purpose of catching hold of it.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how grappling hook appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The jibs were extended partially, and the grappling-hooks attached to steel cables, which had been positioned under the engine a week previously.
Synonyms
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.