plait and plate are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. plait means “a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair”. plate means “(baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score”. plate is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈpleɪt/
1.n.a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
2.n.any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape
3.v.make by braiding or interlacing
“lace a tablecloth”
/ˈpleɪt/
1.n.(baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
“he ruled that the runner failed to touch home”
2.n.a sheet of metal or wood or glass or plastic
3.n.a full-page illustration (usually on slick paper)
| plait | plate | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈpleɪt/ | /ˈpleɪt/ |
| Said | playt | playt |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 5 | 5 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Senses | 4 | 16 |
| How common | Familiar | Common |
| Synonyms | braid, tress, twist | home plate, home base, home |
Full entry for plait · Full entry for plate · More comparisons