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PlainSpell

sod

/sɑd/noun, verb, interjection, adjective

sod is spelled S-O-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sod means “The stratum of the surface of the soil which is filled with the roots of grass, or any portion of that surface; turf; sward” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sod is sods.

How many letters and syllables are in sod?

Letters3: S-O-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.8 times per million words; the 20,906th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is sod?

Sod appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce sod?

  • UK /sɒd/
  • US /sɑd/
  • Australia /sɔd/

Sod has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sod.ogg, En-au-sod.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with sod?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sod from its last stressed vowel (/ɑd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: dos.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of sod

  • sods plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • sodding participle, present
  • sodded participle, past
  • more sod comparative
  • most sod superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sod mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The stratum of the surface of the soil which is filled with the roots of grass, or any portion of that surface; turf; sward.

  2. 2

    Turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns.

    The landscapers rolled sod onto the bare earth and made a presentable lawn by nightfall.

  3. 3

    A piece of this.

  4. 4

    IrelandUKdatedvulgarSodomite; bugger.

  5. 5

    IrelandUKderogatoryslangA person; often qualified with an adjective.

    You mean old sod!

  6. 6

    IrelandUKvulgarAny trifling amount, a bugger, a damn, a jot.

    I don’t care a sod.

  7. 7

    AustraliacolloquialA damper (bread) which has failed to rise, remaining a flat lump.

  8. 8

    The rock dove.

verb

  1. 1

    To cover with sod.

    He sodded the worn areas twice a year.

  2. 2

    IrelandUKslangvulgarBugger; sodomize.

  3. 3

    IrelandUKslangvulgarDamn, curse, confound.

    Sod him!/Sod it!/Sod that bastard!

interjection

  1. 1

    IrelandUKvulgarexpression of annoyance.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteBoiled.

    Beer, if it be over-new, or over-stale, over-strong, or not sod,[…]is most unwholesome, frets, and galls, etc.

  2. 2

    AustraliaSodden; incompletely risen.

    sod damper

noun

as SOD
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of superoxide dismutase, any of a class of enzymes that catalyze the handling of free radicals in cellular metabolism.

  2. 2

    Abbreviation of start of day.

  3. 3

    Initialism of sunflower oleodistillate or initialism of sunflower oil distillate (synonymous).

noun

as SoD
  1. 1

    Initialism of separation of duties.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sod in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanGrasnarbe, Sode, Grassode, Rasensode, Wasen, Plagge (stratum of soil)
Frenchgazon (turf grown for establishment of lawn), gazonner (to cover with sod), bougre (sodomite; bugger)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does sod come from?

From Middle English sod, sodde first attested in the mid-15th century, from Middle Dutch zoden (“turf”) or Middle Low German sôde, soede (“turf”), both related to Dutch zode (“turf”), German Sode (“turf”), Old Frisian sātha (“sod”), all being of uncertain ultimate origin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sod