I. mis ‧ take 1 S2 W2 /məˈsteɪk, mɪˈsteɪk/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ unmistakably , ↑ mistakenly ; adjective : ↑ mistaken , ↑ unmistakable ; verb : ↑ mistake ; noun : ↑ mistake ]
1 . [countable] something that has been done in the wrong way, or an opinion or statement that is incorrect ⇨ error
mistake in
We may have made a mistake in our calculations.
The most common mistake is to plant them too deep.
2 . [countable] something you do that is not sensible or has a bad result:
Buying the house seemed a great idea at the time, but now I can see it was a terrible mistake.
Marrying him was the biggest mistake she ever made.
make the mistake of doing something
I stupidly made the mistake of giving them my phone number.
3 . by mistake if you do something by mistake, you do it without intending to SYN accidentally OPP deliberately , on purpose :
Someone must have left the door open by mistake.
I’m sorry, this letter is addressed to you – I opened it by mistake.
4 . in mistake for somebody/something as a result of a mistake in which someone or something is wrongly thought to be someone or something else:
The boy was shot dead in mistake for a burglar.
5 . we all make mistakes spoken used to tell someone not to be worried because they have made a mistake
6 . make no mistake (about it) spoken used to emphasize that what you are saying is true, especially when you are warning about something serious or dangerous:
Make no mistake, this is the most serious threat our industry has ever seen.
7 . and no mistake British English spoken informal used to emphasize the description you have just given:
Miles was a heartbreaker, and no mistake!
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ make a mistake
The lab must have made a mistake – this can’t be right.
▪ correct a mistake
Luckily I was able to correct the mistake before my boss saw it.
▪ realize your mistake
As soon as he realized his mistake he turned in the right direction.
▪ admit your mistake
It is better to admit your mistake and apologize.
▪ mistakes happen
We’re very careful, but mistakes can happen.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + mistake
▪ a common mistake
A common mistake is to imagine that dogs think like humans.
▪ a little/minor mistake
The essay was full of little mistakes.
▪ a serious/grave mistake
There was a serious mistake in the instructions.
▪ an honest mistake (=a mistake, and not a deliberate action)
Thomas admitted he had broken the law, but said that it had been an honest mistake.
▪ a silly/stupid mistake
You need to be able to laugh at your own silly mistakes.
▪ an easy mistake (to make)
She looks like her sister, so it’s an easy mistake to make.
▪ a spelling mistake
She spotted two spelling mistakes in the article.
■ phrases
▪ be full of mistakes
The article was full of mistakes.
▪ it is a mistake to think/assume etc something
It would be a mistake to assume that all snakes are dangerous.
▪ there must be some mistake (=used when you think someone has made a mistake)
There must be some mistake. I definitely booked a room for tonight.
▪ be full of mistakes (=have a lot of mistakes)
The report was full of mistakes.
▪ be all a mistake (=used to say that a situation happened because of a mistake)
He couldn’t bring himself to tell her it was all a mistake.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say 'do a mistake' . Say make a mistake .
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ make a mistake
I just want to prevent you from making a terrible mistake.
▪ learn from your mistakes
I’m sure he will learn from his mistakes.
▪ repeat a mistake
We certainly do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past.
■ adjectives
▪ a big/great mistake
Buying this car was a big mistake.
▪ a bad/terrible/dreadful etc mistake
It would be a terrible mistake to marry him.
▪ a serious/grave mistake
The decision to take the money was a serious mistake.
▪ a fatal mistake (=a very bad mistake, often one that ends something)
His fatal mistake was to underestimate his opponent.
▪ a costly mistake (=that costs you money or has a bad result)
Hiring him turned out to be a costly mistake.
■ phrases
▪ it is a mistake to do something
It is a mistake to try to see everything in the museum in one day.
▪ make the mistake of doing something
He made the mistake of revealing his true intentions.
▪ make the same mistake again/twice
We won’t make the same mistake again.
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THESAURUS
▪ mistake something incorrect that you accidentally do, say, or write:
a spelling mistake
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I made a mistake – it should say £230, not £320.
▪ error formal a mistake:
an error in the report
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grammatical errors
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He had made a serious error on his tax form.
▪ misprint a small mistake in something that is printed:
There was a misprint in the article, and instead of ‘pleasant’ it said ‘pheasant’.
▪ typo informal a mistake in something that has been typed or printed:
I spotted a couple of typos in the letter.
▪ inaccuracy formal a piece of information that is not completely correct:
The report contained several inaccuracies.
▪ mix-up a careless mistake in which one name, time, address etc has been confused with another, so that the details of something are wrong:
There was a mix-up over the train times and I missed my train.
▪ slip-up a careless mistake when you are doing something:
The other team took advantage of the goalie’s slip-up.
▪ oversight a mistake in which you forget something or do not notice something:
Through some oversight, the brochures were not ready by the right date.
▪ a slip of the tongue a mistake in which you accidentally say a similar sounding word:
When I said Thursday, I meant Tuesday. It was a slip of the tongue.
▪ faux pas /ˌfəʊ ˈpɑː, ˈfəʊ pɑː $ ˌfoʊ ˈpɑː/ formal an embarrassing mistake in a social situation, when you do or say something that you shouldn’t:
Harris, trying to be funny, addressed the waiter as ‘boy’. A deathly silence followed this faux pas.
■ a stupid mistake
▪ blunder a stupid mistake caused by not thinking carefully enough about what you are saying or doing, which could have serious results:
In a serious blunder by the hospital, two babies were sent home with the wrong parents.
▪ gaffe /ɡæf/ an embarrassing and stupid mistake made in a social situation or in public:
a serious gaffe in her speech about immigration
▪ howler British English a very bad mistake, especially one that shows you do not know something, and that often makes other people laugh:
Photographers should be careful of making classic howlers, such as having a tree grow out of your subject’s head.
▪ cock-up British English informal a silly mistake when you are doing something – a very informal use:
They made a cock-up with the bill.
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The government is anxious to avoid any more cock-ups.
II. mistake 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense mistook /-ˈstʊk/, past participle mistaken /-ˈsteɪkən/) [transitive]
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ unmistakably , ↑ mistakenly ; adjective : ↑ mistaken , ↑ unmistakable ; verb : ↑ mistake ; noun : ↑ mistake ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: mistaka ]
1 . to understand something wrongly:
She mistook my meaning entirely.
Ken mistook her concern, thinking she was interested in him for another reason.
2 . you can’t mistake somebody/something used to say that someone or something is very easy to recognize:
You can’t mistake her. She’s the one with the long red hair.
3 . there is no mistaking somebody/something used to say that you are certain about something:
There’s no mistaking whose children they are – they all look just like Joe.
mistake somebody/something for somebody/something phrasal verb
to wrongly think that one person or thing is someone or something else:
A woman mistook him for a well-known actor, and asked him for his autograph.
The doctor mistook the symptoms for blood poisoning.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ misunderstand to think that someone means one thing, when in fact they mean something else:
I think you've misunderstood what I'm saying.
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Some companies appear to have misunderstood the new rules.
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Don't misunderstand me - I have nothing against these people.
▪ get somebody/something wrong especially spoken to misunderstand someone or something - used especially in everyday spoken English:
Looks like you've got it all wrong.
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You've got me all wrong - that's not what I meant.
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Tell me if I've got it wrong.
▪ mistake to misunderstand someone's intentions, and react in the wrong way:
He was a very private man, and some people mistook this for unfriendliness.
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I thought she wanted us to leave her alone, but I may been mistaken.
▪ misread/misjudge to wrongly believe that someone’s actions show that they have a particular opinion or feeling, or that a situation means that you should behave in particular way:
The party completely misread the mood of the voters at the last election.
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Eddie wondered if he should be scared, too. Maybe he had misjudged the situation.
▪ misinterpret to not understand the true meaning of someone’s actions or words, so that you believe something that is not in fact true:
A lot of people misinterpreted what I was saying, and have called me a racist.
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Struggling with an unfamiliar language, the simplest conversations were misinterpreted.
▪ misconstrue formal to misunderstand something that someone has said or done:
She claimed that members of the press had misconstrued her comments.
▪ miss the point to not understand the main part or meaning of what someone is saying or what something is intended to do:
I think you're missing the whole point of the film.
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If he thinks it's all about how much profit he can make, then he's missing the point.
▪ get the wrong end of the stick British English informal to make a mistake about one part of something that you are told, so that you understand the rest of it in completely the wrong way:
Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick. I thought she was leaving him, not the other way round.