plow

/plaʊ/

//plaʊ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“plow” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,176. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,176
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of plough.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plow · plow · English

plow · rank #22,176 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,176
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH playhouse

Nearest frequency peer: playhouse (-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 “plow”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “plow” 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).

plow vs po
50% similar
plow vs PW
0% similar
plow vs pro
50% similar

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

Key facts for plow
PropertyValue
Headwordplow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/plaʊ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#22,176
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “plow”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).plowlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “playhouse” (#22,175), “philanthropic” (#22,174), “preferential” (#22,178). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “plow” is #22,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around plow (IPA /plaʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #22,176 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Alternative spelling of plough.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for plow, with forms such as "lpow", "pllow", and "ploww". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "po", "PW", "pro", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is plow, spelled P-L-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of plough.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. A plow, they say, to plow the snow. They cannot mean to plant it, no– Unless in bitterness to mock At having cultivated rock.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpow
  • pllow
  • ploww
  • plwo
  • polw
  • pplow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plow - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

lpow2pllow1ploww1plwo2polw2pplow1
Edit distance from "plow"

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 "plow"?
"plow" is spelled P-L-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /plaʊ/.
What does "plow" mean?
As a noun, "plow" means: Alternative spelling of plough.
What words are commonly confused with "plow"?
"plow" is commonly confused with "po", "PW", "pro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plow" is /plaʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "plow" come from?
"plow" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "plow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

peng#22,173pave#22,172proc#22,182loco#22,141

Similar misspelling depth

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

mellon6 variantsMatty6 variantslorry6 variantsSilas6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list