cheval de bois
\ʃə.val də bwa\
The verdict
“cheval de bois” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Figure en bois pour voltiger.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cheval de bois |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃə.val də bwa\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cheval de bois” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for cheval de bois is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʃə.val də bwa\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
cheval de bois has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is cheval de bois, spelled C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -B-O-I-S.
Definition
- 1Figure en bois pour voltiger.
- 2Sculpture en bois de taille réduite représentant un cheval, destinée à être montée par des enfants dans un manège forain.
- 3Jouet d'enfant.
- 4Tréteau en arête pour le supplice.
- 5Tête-à-queue.
- 6Sorte d'échelle utilisée par les écorceurs pour ôter les écorces de chênes sur pied.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “cheval de bois”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -B-O-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʃə.val də bwa\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.