conduct and conduit differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. conduct means “direct the course of; manage or control”. conduit means “a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass”. conduct is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈkɑndəkt/
1.v.direct the course of; manage or control
“You cannot conduct business like this”
2.v.lead, as in the performance of a composition
“conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years”
3.v.behave in a certain manner
“She carried herself well”
/ˈkɑnduɪt/
1.n.a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass
“the computers were connected through a system of conduits”
| conduct | conduit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɑndəkt/ | /ˈkɑnduɪt/ |
| Said | KAHN-duhkt | KAHN-doo-it |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| Letters | 7 | 7 |
| Parts of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Senses | 8 | 1 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | carry on, deal | none recorded |
Full entry for conduct · Full entry for conduit · More comparisons