trough
/tɹɒf/
"trough" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“trough” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,606. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,606
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A long, narrow container, open on top, for feeding or watering animals.
Corpus desk
Index EN-trough · trough · English
trough · rank #16,606 · 9 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,606
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH tripped
Nearest frequency peer: tripped (-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 “trough”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Trey
Trey
83,397 corpus weight
- tripped
tripped
83,396 corpus weight
- trough
trough
83,395 corpus weight
- trunks
trunks
83,394 corpus weight
- tummy
tummy
83,393 corpus weight
- unjust
unjust
83,392 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “trough” 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 | trough |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tɹɒf/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #16,606 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “trough” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around trough (IPA /tɹɒf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,606 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for trough, with forms such as "rtough", "torugh", and "troguh". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "truth", "trout", "troupe", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dóru From Middle English trogh, from Old English troh, trog (“a trough, tub, basin, vessel for containing liquids or other materials”), from Proto-West Germanic *trog, from Proto-Germanic *trugą, *trugaz, from Proto-Indo-European *drukós, enlarge… The correct English form is trough, spelled T-R-O-U-G-H.
Definition
- 1A long, narrow container, open on top, for feeding or watering animals.
- 2Any similarly shaped container.
- 3Any similarly shaped container.
- 4A short, narrow canal designed to hold water until it drains or evaporates.
- 5An undivided metal urinal (plumbing fixture)
- 6A gutter under the eaves of a building; an eaves trough.
- 7A channel for conveying water or other farm liquids (such as milk) from place to place by gravity; any ‘U’ or ‘V’ cross-sectioned irrigation channel.
- 8A long, narrow depression between waves or ridges; the low portion of a wave cycle.
- 9A low turning point or a local minimum of a business cycle.
- 10A linear atmospheric depression associated with a weather front.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how trough appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
One of Harriet's chores was to slop the pigs' trough each morning and evening.
Now, covered concrete troughs to house the cables are laid parallel with the railway lines, cheapening maintenance because of improved accessibility for inspection and repair.
Etymology
PIE word *dóru From Middle English trogh, from Old English troh, trog (“a trough, tub, basin, vessel for containing liquids or other materials”), from Proto-West Germanic *trog, from Proto-Germanic *trugą, *trugaz, from Proto-Indo-European *drukós, enlargement of *dóru (“tree”). See also West Frisian trôch, Dutch trog, German Trog, Danish trug, Swedish tråg; also Middle Irish drochta (“wooden basin”), Old Armenian տարգալ (targal, “ladle, spoon”). More at tree.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- rtough
- torugh
- troguh
- trouggh
- troughh
- trouhg
- trrough
- truogh
- ttrough
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of trough - 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 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "trough"?
What does "trough" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "trough"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "trough", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "trough". Here's where to go from here.
- "trough" maps to 9 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "truth". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #16,606 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.