# ropes

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹoʊps/ · frequency rank #11,955

## Definitions
1. plural of rope
2. Basic skills of a job.

## Etymology
In the sense of skills, a now figurative use that originally referred to literal ropes.
The phrase “he knows the ropes” written on a seaman’s discharge meant that he was inexperienced and only familiar with a ship’s principal ropes.

## Easily confused with
- **ROS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-ros)
- **rose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rose)
- **Ross** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-ross)
- **rows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rows)
- **Rowe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rowe)
- **rote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rote)
- **rove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rove)
- **ROTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rots)
- **rules** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rules)
- **roses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-roses)
- **rover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rover)
- **rosen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rosen)
- **rower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rower)
- **rupee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rupee)
- **rowed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rowed)
- **Rouen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-rouen)
- **Roxas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-roxas)
- **routes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ropes-vs-routes)
- **res** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/res-vs-ropes)
- **roe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/roe-vs-ropes)

## Common misspellings (7)
`orpes`, `roeps`, `ropess`, `roppes`, `ropse`, `rpoes`, `rropes`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ropes