spud

/spʌd/

//spʌd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“spud” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #42,419. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,419
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A potato.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spud · spud · English

spud · rank #42,419 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,419
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH squalor

Nearest frequency peer: squalor (+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 “spud”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spud” 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).

spud vs su
50% similar
spud vs sun
50% similar
spud vs sub
50% similar

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

Key facts for spud
PropertyValue
Headwordspud
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spʌd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#42,419
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spud”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).spudlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “squalor” (#42,420), “stabilisation” (#42,421), “spinster” (#42,416). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spud” is #42,419. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around spud (IPA /spʌd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #42,419 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for spud, with forms such as "psud", "spdu", and "sppud". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "su", "sun", "sub", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spudde (“small knife”). Origin unknown; probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjót (“spear”), German Spieß (“spear; spike; skewer”). Compare English spit (“sharp, pointed rod”). The use of the term for a potato perhaps first appear… The correct English form is spud, spelled S-P-U-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A potato.
  2. 2
    A hole in a sock.
  3. 3
    A type of short nut (fastener) threaded on both ends.
  4. 4
    Anything short and thick.
  5. 5
    A piece of dough boiled in fat.
  6. 6
    A testicle.
  7. 7
    A dagger.
  8. 8
    A digging fork with three broad prongs.
  9. 9
    A tool, similar to a spade, used for digging out weeds etc.
  10. 10
    A barking spud; a long-handled tool for removing bark from logs.
  11. 11
    A movable post through a sleeve in the hull of a work barge to anchor it to the bottom of a body of water.
  12. 12
    A short central rod in a lighting fixture, for attachment to the light.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We were peeling spuds on afternoon detail back of the lodge at summer camp — Billy Dean and I, and two or three more — and as usual arguing about whether the camp work ought to be done that way or not[…]
  2. You can praise God by peeling a spud if you peel it to perfection. Don't compromise. Compromise is a language of the devil. Run in God's name, and let the world stand back and in wonder.

Etymology

From Middle English spudde (“small knife”). Origin unknown; probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjót (“spear”), German Spieß (“spear; spike; skewer”). Compare English spit (“sharp, pointed rod”). The use of the term for a potato perhaps first appeared in New Zealand and Australian dialect and slang.

This word in other languages

patate(Français)Kartoffel(Deutsch)batata(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psud
  • spdu
  • sppud
  • spudd
  • sspud
  • supd

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spud - 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.

psud2spdu2sppud1spudd1sspud1supd2
Edit distance from "spud"

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 "spud"?
"spud" is spelled S-P-U-D. The IPA pronunciation is /spʌd/.
What does "spud" mean?
As a noun, "spud" means: A potato.
What words are commonly confused with "spud"?
"spud" is commonly confused with "su", "sun", "sub". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spud"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spud" is /spʌd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "spud"?
From Middle English spudde (“small knife”). Origin unknown; probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjót (“spear”), German Spieß (“spear; spike; skewer”). Compare English spit (“sharp, pointed rod”). The use of the term for a potato perhaps fi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "spud", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Tami#42,444reis#42,368pyre#42,355Zhen#42,502

Similar misspelling depth

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

tapper6 variantsabate6 variantsorang6 variantsochre6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list