by mistake
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Maryland man deported last year by mistake already had his federal indictment on human smuggling charges dismissed over vindictive prosecution, but now, the Justice Department is demanding the indictment be brought back.
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2026
Based on the true story of a reform school where Black boys went missing, the novel pairs the stories of two teens, one a troublemaker and the other caught up by mistake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Well, dear reader, I took a break, too—from What’s News—to write about great innovations that were discovered by mistake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
A man from Edinburgh says he is facing jail in Thailand because he picked up a woman's phone in a bar "by mistake" on the first day of a backpacking holiday.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
But then she remembered how she had signed for the flowers and chocolates by mistake.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
