error

6 definitions • 18 examples

a mistake:

make an error He admitted that he'd made an error.

The letter contains a number of typing errors.

human error Human error has been blamed for the air crash.

margin for error With something as delicate as brain surgery, there is little margin for error (= you must not make mistakes).

a wrong decision:

Not telling the staff before they read the news in the papers was an error of judgment.

to understand that you were wrong to behave in a particular way and start to behave differently:

I hope you can see the error of your ways - otherwise, there is no future for you in this business.

a mistake, esp. in a way that can be discovered as wrong, or the making of such mistakes:

[ C ] a spelling/mathematical error

[ U ] Investigators said the train crash was caused by human error rather than mechanical failure.

something done or written by accident that is not correct, not accurate, or does not give the right result:

make/introduce an error Can I amend my VAT return online if I've made an error?

correct/find an error

contain/have errors The text has numerous errors, but none are particularly significant.

error in sth An error in accounting led to this figure appearing in the 'profit' column.

accounting/administrative/clerical error Due to an administrative error, the payment went to the wrong bank account.

a grave/serious error

He made an error of judgment when he failed to promote her.

If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately.

a situation in which something goes wrong in a computer program, or a message that this has happened:

give/produce/generate an error The bug generated an error when performing a multi-scale query.

a syntax/server/system error