taps
/tæps/
"taps" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taps” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,824. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #13,824
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo; the signal is sometimes also given durin...
Corpus desk
Index EN-taps · taps · English
taps · rank #13,824 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #13,824
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH tanner
Nearest frequency peer: tanner (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “taps”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- tailored
tailored
86,180 corpus weight
- tame
tame
86,179 corpus weight
- tanner
tanner
86,178 corpus weight
- taps
taps
86,177 corpus weight
- TF
TF
86,176 corpus weight
- thinner
thinner
86,175 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “taps” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | taps |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tæps/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,824 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “taps” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around taps (IPA /tæps/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,824 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo; the signal is sometimes also given durin...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for taps, with forms such as "atps", "tapps", and "tapss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TS", "tp", "top", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From tap (noun) + -s. Noun 1 sense 1 (“signal for extinguishing all lights in soldiers’ quarters and retiring to bed”) is from the fact that the signal was originally made using a drum. The correct English form is taps, spelled T-A-P-S.
Definition
- 1A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo; the signal is sometimes also given during the funeral of a soldier.
Etymology
From tap (noun) + -s. Noun 1 sense 1 (“signal for extinguishing all lights in soldiers’ quarters and retiring to bed”) is from the fact that the signal was originally made using a drum.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- atps
- tapps
- tapss
- tasp
- tpas
- ttaps
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of taps - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "taps"?
What does "taps" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "taps"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "taps", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.