- mistake
- I UK [mɪˈsteɪk] / US
noun [countable]
Word forms "mistake":
singular mistake plural mistakes
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Metaphor:Making a mistake is like falling over, or like being clumsy and dropping things. She stumbled over the speech. ♦ You tripped up there: what were you thinking of? ♦ I fell flat on my face the last time I tried. ♦ She didn't put a foot wrong. ♦ I was completely wrong-footed. ♦ He fumbled for something useful to say. ♦ They made a clumsy attempt to improve the situation. ♦ It was a slip of the tongue/pen. ♦ I seem to have put my foot in it. ➡ confused1)a) something that you have not done correctly, or something you say or think that is not correctmake a mistake:I won't make the same mistake again!
correct a mistake:Don't worry: it's an easy mistake to make.
admit a mistake:It's much easier to correct mistakes at an early stage.
I wish you'd admitted your mistake earlier.
b) something that you say or write in a way that is not correctspelling/grammar mistakes
2) something you do that you later wish you had not done, because it causes a lot of problemsa big/terrible/serious mistake:a costly/expensive mistake:You're making a big mistake.
the biggest mistake of something:The wrong choice of computer could prove a costly mistake.
it would be a mistake to do something:Marrying him had been the biggest mistake of her life.
make the mistake of doing something:It would be a mistake to think that the trouble is over.
I made the mistake of inviting Jennifer to the party.
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Collocations:
Adjectives frequently used with mistake
▪ bad, big, careless, costly, deliberate, disastrous, dreadful, expensive, fatal, grave, serious, terrible, tragicmake no mistake (about it)
— spoken used for emphasizing that you mean what you are sayingI'll go to the police next time – make no mistake about it.
II UK [mɪˈsteɪk] / US verb [transitive]
Word forms "mistake":
present tense I/you/we/they mistake he/she/it mistakes present participle mistaking past tense mistook UK [mɪˈstʊk] / US past participle mistaken UK [mɪˈsteɪkən] / US
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to not understand something correctlyI'm afraid I mistook the nature of our relationship.
•Phrasal verbs:
English dictionary. 2014.