lash
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
4 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "lash", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "lash" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "lash" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
lash is aEnglishnoun. It means: The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given. Pronounced /læʃ/. Often confused with Ls and law.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lash |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /læʃ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #17,657 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lash is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /læʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,657 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for lash, with forms such as "alsh", "lahs", and "lashh". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Ls", "law", "los", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lashe, lasshe, lasche (“a stroke; the flexible end of a whip”), from Proto-Germanic *laskô (“flap of fabric, strap”). Cognate with Dutch lasch, las (“a piece; seal; joint; notch; seam”), German Low German Laske, Lask (“a flap; dag; strap… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is lash, spelled L-A-S-H, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
- 2A leash in which an animal is caught or held; hence, a snare.
- 3A stroke with a whip, or anything pliant and tough, often given as a punishment.
- 4A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail; a swish.
- 5A stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut.
- 6A hair growing from the edge of the eyelid; an eyelash.
- 7In carpet weaving, a group of strings for lifting simultaneously certain yarns, to form the figure.
- 8Flowering plants of genus Blepharis.
- 9An attempt; a go at something.
- 10A quantity, a great number or amount (e.g. of rain or milk).
Etymology
From Middle English lashe, lasshe, lasche (“a stroke; the flexible end of a whip”), from Proto-Germanic *laskô (“flap of fabric, strap”). Cognate with Dutch lasch, las (“a piece; seal; joint; notch; seam”), German Low German Laske, Lask (“a flap; dag; strap”), German Lasche (“a flap; joint; strap; tongue; scarf”), Swedish lask (“scarf”), Icelandic laski (“the bottom part of a glove”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alsh,lahs,lashh,lassh,llash,lsah
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for lash
Misspelling Variants of "lash"
Frequency rank: #17,657 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: