nab
/næb/
"nab" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nab” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #24,839) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #24,839
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
Corpus desk
Index EN-nab · nab · English
nab · rank #24,839 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #24,839
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH murky
Nearest frequency peer: murky (-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 neighbourhood for “nab”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- mouthpiece
mouthpiece
75,165 corpus weight
- muck
muck
75,164 corpus weight
- murky
murky
75,163 corpus weight
- nab
nab
75,162 corpus weight
- neonatal
neonatal
75,161 corpus weight
- neuronal
neuronal
75,160 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “nab” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nab |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /næb/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #24,839 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nab” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for nab is neighbouring look-alikes ("NC", "ne", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /næb/. Frequency #24,839 among 1,534 “N” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for nab, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "NC", "ne", "NJ", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”). Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian Bokmål nappe (“to g… The correct English form is nab, spelled N-A-B.
Definition
- 1To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
- 2To grab or snatch something.
- 3To steal or copy another user's post.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nab appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he.
Their target: a drug kingpin who reportedly keeps millions of dollars in his fortress of a compound. Pope has been working for years to nab this baddie, and sincerely wants to stop his reign of terror,)
Etymology
From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”). Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian Bokmål nappe (“to grab, snatch, pluck, yank”).
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nab", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "nab". Here's where to go from here.
- "nab" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "NC". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #24,839 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.