strap
/stɹæp/
"strap" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“strap” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,825 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,825
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
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 | strap |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /stɹæp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #9,825 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “strap” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for strap is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stɹæp/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,825 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for strap, with forms such as "srtap", "sstrap", and "starp". 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, "swap", "sura", "strip", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stroppe, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, struppus (“st… The correct English form is strap, spelled S-T-R-A-P.
Definition
- 1A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
- 2A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like.
- 3A strip of thick leather used in flogging.
- 4Something made of such a strip, or of a part of one, or a combination of two or more for a particular use.
- 5A piece of leather, or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, used to hone the sharpened edge of a razor; a strop.
- 6A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.
- 7A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.
- 8The flat part of the corolla in ligulate florets, as those of the white circle in the daisy.
- 9The leaf, exclusive of its sheath, in some grasses.
- 10A gun, normally a personal firearm such as a pistol or machine pistol.
- 11Credit offered to a customer, especially for alcoholic drink.
- 12A strap-on.
- 13Synonym of strapline.
- 14A championship belt, or by extension, the title.
- 15An investment strategy involving simultaneous trade with one put and two call options on the same security at the same strike price, similar to but more bullish than a straddle.
Etymology
From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stroppe, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, struppus (“strap”), from Ancient Greek στρόφος (stróphos, “rope”) (compare strophe), from στρέφω (stréphō, “to twist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strebʰ- (compare Proto-West Germanic *stroppōn (“to twist, writhe”)). Cognate with Scots strap, strop (“strap, band, thong”), Dutch strop (“noose, strop, loop”), Low German Strop (“strap”), German Struppe, Strüppe, Strippe (“string, cord”), Danish strop (“strap”), Swedish stropp (“strap, loop”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: srtap,sstrap,starp,strapp,strpa,strrap,sttrap,tsrap
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of strap - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “strap”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-R-A-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /stɹæp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “swap” - see the side-by-side comparison. strap vs swap
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.