hock

/hɒk/

//hɒk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“hock” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #35,339. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,339
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hock · hock · English

hock · rank #35,339 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,339
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH holler

Nearest frequency peer: holler (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “hock”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “hock” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

hock vs how
50% similar
hock vs hot
50% similar
hock vs hop
50% similar

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

Key facts for hock
PropertyValue
Headwordhock
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɒk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#35,339
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hock”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hocklands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “holler” (#35,340), “Hinton” (#35,337), “holstein” (#35,341). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hock” is #35,339. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around hock (IPA /hɒk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #35,339 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for hock, with forms such as "hcok", "hhock", and "hocck". 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, "how", "hot", "hop", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of hockamore, from German. The correct English form is hock, spelled H-O-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. That night he strolled into the Palette Club about eleven o’clock, and found Trevor sitting by himself in the smoking-room drinking hock and seltzer.
  2. The dinner that they sat down to in the fly-specked dining-room was of boiled beef and carrots, with a turgid ginger pudding to follow, though Grierson went down to the cellar himself and found some dusty bottles of hock, overlooked for years because there was no demand for it in a beer-drinking community.

Etymology

Clipping of hockamore, from German.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hcok
  • hhock
  • hocck
  • hockk
  • hokc
  • ohck

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hock - 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.

hcok2hhock1hocck1hockk1hokc2ohck2
Edit distance from "hock"

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 "hock"?
"hock" is spelled H-O-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /hɒk/.
What does "hock" mean?
As a noun, "hock" means: A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.
What words are commonly confused with "hock"?
"hock" is commonly confused with "how", "hot", "hop". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hock"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hock" is /hɒk/. 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 "hock"?
Clipping of hockamore, from German. 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 "hock", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

husk#35,345gaol#35,310GABA#35,308Kath#35,374

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Jeannie6 variantsLottie6 variantsMDMA6 variantseared6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list