mistake

6 definitions • 12 examples

an action, decision, or judgment that produces an unwanted or unintentional result:

I'm not blaming you - we all make mistakes.

[ + to infinitive ] It was a mistake for us to come here tonight.

This letter's full of spelling mistakes.

I've discovered a few mistakes in your calculations.

Why am I under arrest? There must be some mistake.

by accident:

I've paid this bill twice by mistake.

to be wrong about or to fail to recognize something or someone:

You can't mistake their house - it has a bright yellow front door.

formal I mistook your signature and thought the letter was from someone else.

an action or decision that is wrong or produces a result that is not correct or not intended:

We all make mistakes.

[ + to infinitive ] It was a mistake to come to this restaurant without a reservation.

By mistake means unintentionally:

I’m sorry – I must have dialed your number by mistake.

to be wrong about or fail to recognize something or someone:

[ T always + adv/prep ] I called Karen and mistook her mother for her (= I thought I was speaking to Karen when I was speaking to her mother).