by mistake
By accident; without the intention to do so.
Today I took your packed lunch to work by mistake.
mistake
UK [mɪˈstɛjk] US [mɪˈsteɪk]
verb 4noun 2
Collocations
28(noun.)
ADJ
big, great
She made a big mistake by leaving her passport at home before the trip.
bad, dreadful, fundamental, ghastly, grave, serious, terrible
costly, expensive
Choosing that car turned out to be a costly mistake that affected his finances for years.
disastrous, fatal | tragic
elementary, little, simple
She made a simple mistake on the form, but the bank still processed her application.
common | genuine, honest | deliberate
past
She regretted her past mistakes and decided to change how she treated her friends.
stupid | spelling
VERB + MISTAKE
make
It's easy to make mistakes when you're learning a new language.
repeat | learn from
pay for
She had to pay for her mistake when she accidentally deleted the important files.
discover, realize
When I discovered my mistake during the test, I knew I couldn't change my answer.
acknowledge, admit (to) | correct, put right, rectify
MISTAKE + VERB
happen, occur
Even careful people sometimes make mistakes that occur during stressful situations.
PREP
by ~
She deleted the email by mistake and couldn't find it in the trash folder.
~ about
I was wrong about the meeting time, but my coworker made the same mistake about it.
PHRASES
all a mistake
When she realized he had proposed to someone else, she understood their relationship was all a mistake.
an easy mistake to make
People often confuse those two words because it's an easy mistake to make.
(verb.)
ADV
easily
Many new drivers easily mistake the brake pedal for the accelerator when they're nervous.
VERB + MISTAKE
can't
You can't mistake Sarah's handwriting because she always uses purple ink.
PREP
for
The waiter brought coffee to our table by mistake, thinking we had ordered it.
PHRASES
there is no mistaking sth
You could see her excitement clearly—there was no mistaking the huge smile on her face.
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