pau a pau
The verdict
“pau a pau” is uncommon Portuguese (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency Portuguese
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - renhidamente
Corpus desk
Index PT-pau-a-pau · pau a pau · Portuguese
pau a pau · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pau a pau |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Cauda longa: rank de “pau a pau” em português
Rare enough to double-check
pau a pau is uncommon Portuguese outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
pau a pau doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is pau a pau, spelled P-A-U- -A- -P-A-U.
Definition
- 1renhidamente
- 2de maneira acirrada a apresentar o mesmo ímpeto, nível e/ou condições de disputa que o oponente
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pau a pau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Os dois boxeadores disputavam pau a pau a contenda.
Os dois pilotos vinham pau a pau na última volta.
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.