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mistake definition

mis·take (mi stāk′)

transitive verb mistook -·took′, mistaken -·tak′en or Obsoletemistook -·took′, mistaking -·tak′·ing

  1. to understand or perceive wrongly; interpret or judge incorrectly mistake someone's motives
  2. to take (someone or something) to be another; recognize or identify incorrectly to mistake one twin for the other

Etymology: ME mistaken < ON mistaka, to take wrongly: see mis- & take

intransitive verb

to make a mistake

noun

  1. a fault in understanding, perception, interpretation, etc.
  2. an idea, answer, act, etc. that is wrong; error

Related Forms:

mistake Idioms

and no mistake

Informal certainly

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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