wring
/ɹɪŋ/
"wring" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wring” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #39,654 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #39,654
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
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 | wring |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #39,654 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wring” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wring is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,654 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 26 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 wring, with forms such as "rwing", "wirng", and "wrign". 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, "writ", "wrong", "write", 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 Middle English wringen, wryngen from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ-. Cognates * Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast”) * Dutch wringen * Lithuanian… The correct English form is wring, spelled W-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
- 2Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out.
- 3Often followed by from or out: to extract (a liquid) from something wet by squeezing, twisting, or otherwise putting pressure on it.
- 4To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.
- 5To hold (someone or something) tightly and press or twist; to wrest.
- 6To bend or strain (something) out of its position; to wrench, to wrest.
- 7To contort or screw up (the face or its features).
- 8To twist or wind (something) into coils; to coil.
- 9Of a thing (such as footwear): to pinch or press (a person or part of their body), causing pain.
- 10To cause (someone or something) physical harm, injury, or pain; specifically, by applying pressure or by twisting; to harm, to hurt, to injure.
- 11To cause (tears) to come out from a person or their eyes.
- 12To cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment.
- 13To obtain (something) from or out of a person or thing by extortion or other force.
- 14To use effort to draw (a response, words, etc.) from or out of someone; to generate (something) as a response.
- 15To afflict or oppress (someone) to enforce compliance; to extort.
- 16To cause (someone) to do something or to think a certain way.
- 17To change (something) into another thing.
- 18To give (teachings, words, etc.) an incorrect meaning; to twist, to wrest.
- 19To put (oneself) in a position by cunning or subtle means; to insinuate.
- 20To slide (two ultraflat surfaces) together such that their faces bond.
- 21To be engaged in clasping and twisting (especially the hands), or exerting pressure.
- 22To twist the body in or as if in pain; to writhe.
- 23To contend, to struggle; also, to strive, to toil.
- 24To experience distress, pain, punishment, etc.
- 25Of a lode: to be depleted of ore; to peter or peter out.
- 26To make a way out with difficulty.
Etymology
From Middle English wringen, wryngen from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ-. Cognates * Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast”) * Dutch wringen * Lithuanian reñgtis (“to bend down”) * Middle Low German wringen (Low German wringen) * Old Frisian *wringa (West Frisian wringe) * Old High German rinkan, ringan, ringan (Middle High German ringen, modern German wringen, German ringen (“to wrestle”))
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rwing,wirng,wrign,wringg,wrinng,wrnig,wrring,wwring
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wring - 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 “wring”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-R-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “writ” - see the side-by-side comparison. wring vs writ
- 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.