noun
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the act or process of writing words by using the letters conventionally accepted for their formation; orthography
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the art or study of orthography
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the actual way in which a word is spelt
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the ability of a person to spell
John's spelling is good
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spelling
Vocabulary lists containing spelling
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Research Report
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Selecting and Evaluating Sources and Research Report
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The reserve for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever comes off the bench for the latter-day contenders, spelling for star Caitlin Clark and averaging a respectable eight points per game.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Distributors are asked to provide the metadata for each individual song, which makes it possible for a bad actor to submit music using an existing artist's name, or one with a very similar spelling.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Last week, the family was traveling to Montreal but was initially unable to board their flight because one of his daughters had a problem with the spelling of her name on her ticket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The white cloth that was draped over the jeans-maker’s logo was so thin that the coverup practically accentuated the block letters spelling out its name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
I wrote the spelling words in my notepad and studied them as I worked.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
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The predictive text is supposed to learn your style and improve over time, but depending on the fixes you do or don’t accept, it can learn incorrect spellings in place of correct ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
The so-called invading force of my generation assimilated to the point where our kids are named Brandon and Ashley in all sorts of spellings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
Other spellings of the name Mohammed and Mohammad also made the top 100 list for England and Wales.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2024
And because Jefferson's original moniker was spelled as Megalonyx, any other subsequent spellings of the name, like some that utilize the -onix suffix, are incorrect.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024
It seems all the cities I have heard of, except Shanghai, have changed their spellings.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.