An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong, or which should not have been done.
NASA discovered a mathematical error in its calculations. [+ in]
MPs attacked lax management and errors of judgment. [+ of]
Synonyms: mistake, slip, fault, blunder More Synonyms of error
2.
See in error
3.
See to see the error of your ways
error in British English
(ˈɛrə)
noun
1.
a mistake or inaccuracy, as in action or speech
a typing error
2.
an incorrect belief or wrong judgment
3.
the condition of deviating from accuracy or correctness, as in belief, action, or speech
he was in error about the train times
4.
deviation from a moral standard; wrongdoing
he saw the error of his ways
5. mathematics, statistics
a measure of the difference between some quantity and an approximation to or estimate of it, often expressed as a percentage
an error of 5%
6. statistics type I error, type II error
Derived forms
error-free (ˌerror-ˈfree)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Latin, from errāre to err
error in American English
(ˈɛrər)
noun
1.
the state of believing what is untrue, incorrect, or wrong
2.
a wrong belief; incorrect opinion
3.
something incorrectly done through ignorance or carelessness; mistake
4.
a departure from the accepted moral code; transgression; wrongdoing; sin
5.
a.
the difference between a computed or estimated result and the actual value, as in mathematics
b.
the amount by which something deviates from what is required
6. US, Baseball
a misplay in fielding or throwing a ball which allows a runner to reach base or to advance to the next base: neither a wild pitch nor a , passed ball is an error
7. Law
a mistake in judgment or procedure of a court of record, usually prejudicial to one of the parties
8. Philately
a flaw in a stamp or stamps from a defect in a printing plate, a difference in color, etc.
SYNONYMY NOTE: error implies deviation from truth, accuracy, correctness, right, etc. and is the broadestterm in this comparison [an error in judgment, in computation, etc.]; mistake suggests an error resulting from carelessness, inattention, misunderstanding, etc.and does not in itself carry a strong implication of criticism [a mistake in reading a blueprint]; blunder implies stupidity, clumsiness, inefficiency, etc. and carries a suggestion of moresevere criticism [a tactical blunder cost them the war]; a slip1 is a mistake, usually slight, made inadvertently in speaking or writing; a , faux pas is a social blunder or error in etiquette that causes embarrassment; , boner1, boo-boo, slang terms, are applied to a silly or ridiculous blunder
Derived forms
errorless (ˈerrorless)
adjective
Word origin
ME & OFr errour < L error < errare: see err
error in Mechanical Engineering
(ɛrər)
Word forms: (regular plural) errors
noun
(Mechanical engineering: Control, instrumentation and metrology)
In a control loop, the error is the difference between the current value of a variable and its setpoint.
E is the error, the difference between the desired value (setpoint) and the latest process variablevalue.
If the temperature drops below the setpoint, the controller applies a control actionto the temperature deviation (the error) and produces a control signal to increase the opening of the valve.
In a control loop, the error is the difference between the current value of a variable and its setpoint.
More idioms containing
error
see the error of your ways
COBUILD Collocations
error
admin error
administrative error
admit an error
basic error
blame an error
cardinal error
catastrophic error
clerical error
contain an error
costly error
driver error
editing error
elementary error
fatal error
glaring error
grammatical error
individual error
make an error
minor error
pilot error
realize an error
refereeing error
repeat an error
serious error
significant error
system error
tactical error
technical error
Examples of 'error' in a sentence
error
The government has made a huge error of judgment.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
We aim to correct significant factual errors as soon as we can.
The Sun (2016)
As with any process in a hospital there is small risk of human error.
Computing (2010)
His error of judgment was not realising he was being set up.
The Sun (2016)
The error was corrected but smacked of apathy.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He recognises that he made a terrible error of judgment.
The Sun (2016)
West played low, a very minor human error.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It is trial and error.
The Sun (2017)
This he can do because of long-term trial and error learning, ie practice.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
He taught himself y trial and error - an't read music today.
The Sun (2016)
Western policymakers made terrible errors in economic management in the last decade.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Trial and error is one of the best ways to learn about gardening.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Was it what you might call an unforced error too far?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Your trouble is blamed on human error.
The Sun (2016)
We apologise for the serious error and for the distress that it has caused.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It was a bad error of judgment.
The Sun (2012)
We aim to correct significant factual errors as soon as we can.
The Sun (2015)
There have been serious errors in the management of the banks themselves and in the regulatory systems.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It was a year of trial and error.
The Sun (2010)
The notion of the unforced error comes mainly from tennis.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The ministry failed to apologise for the serious errors last night.
The Sun (2011)
Companies make serious errors of judgment when they fight what should be a natural process.
Al Ries and Laura Ries THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF BRANDING (2002)
The issue then became how far it was right to go to correct that undoubted error.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
She struggled to get her first serve consistently into play and her unforced error count was alarming.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The second thing to say is that human error should not have been possible.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
She made a serious error of judgment.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Any changes were merely to correct obvious errors in those transcripts.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The crash has previously been blamed on technical faults and human error.
The Sun (2014)
These two fatal errors of judgment led to a moment that changed so much in journalism and politics.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
His ambitious attempts to go for early winners inevitably produces a higher proportion of unforced errors than is healthy.
Barrett, J (ed) ITF World of Tennis (1993)
We learn the best ways of meeting our needs by allowing many people to discover the best solutions through trial and error.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It comes down to errors in team management: flawed tactics.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Quotations
Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immenseHenry St. John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeReflections upon Exile
Crooked things may be as stiff and unflexible as straight; and men may be as positive in error as in truthJohn LockeEssay Concerning Human Understanding
In other languages
error
British English: error /ˈɛrə/ NOUN
An error is a mistake.
He discovered an error in his calculations.
American English: error
Arabic: غَلْطَة
Brazilian Portuguese: erro
Chinese: 错误
Croatian: greška
Czech: chyba
Danish: fejl
Dutch: fout
European Spanish: error
Finnish: virhe
French: erreur
German: Fehler
Greek: σφάλμα
Italian: errore
Japanese: 間違い
Korean: 오류
Norwegian: feil
Polish: błąd
European Portuguese: erro
Romanian: eroare
Russian: ошибка
Latin American Spanish: error
Swedish: fel
Thai: ข้อผิดพลาด
Turkish: yanlış
Ukrainian: помилка
Vietnamese: lỗi
All related terms of 'error'
in error
If you do something in error or if it happens in error , you do it or it happens because you have made a mistake , especially in your judgment .
admin error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
basic error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
fatal error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong, or which should not have been done.
human error
an error that is typical of humans rather than machines
minor error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
pilot error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
closing error
the amount by which a computed , plotted , or observed quantity or position differs from the true or established one, esp when plotting a closed traverse
costly error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
driver error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong, or which should not have been done.
editing error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
error message
a message displayed on a visual display unit, printout , etc, indicating that an incorrect instruction has been given to the computer
glaring error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
literal error
in exact accordance with or limited to the primary or explicit meaning of a word or text
machine error
an error caused by a fault or defect in a machine rather than by human error
posting error
an error made while carrying over an entry from a journal to a ledger
random error
an error that has a random distribution and can be attributed to chance
serious error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
system error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
typing error
an error made while using a keyboard to write something
cardinal error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
circular error
loss of isochronism in a pendulum moving through circular arcs of different sizes: sometimes avoided by causing the pendulum to move through cycloidal arcs
clerical error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
computer error
an error attributed to the action of a computer
printer's error
a misprint or misspelling in a text
printing error
a misprint or misspelling in a text
rounding error
an error introduced into a computation by the need to perform rounding
spelling error
an error in the conventionally accepted form of spelling a word
standard error
the estimated standard deviation of a parameter , the value of which is not known exactly
tactical error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
technical error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
type I error
the error of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true , the probability of which is the significance level of a result
admit an error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
bit error rate
A bit error rate is the measure of the number of incorrect bits that can be expected in a specified number of bits in a serial stream .
blame an error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
catastrophic error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
elementary error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
error correction
the automatic correction of errors in data that arise from missing or distorted digital pulses
grammatical error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
individual error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
make an error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
mathematical error
a mistake in a mathematical calculation , etc
refereeing error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
significant error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
systematic error
a persistent error that cannot be attributed to chance
type II error
the error of not rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false . The probability of avoiding such an error is the power of the test and is a function of the alternative hypothesis
writ of error
a writ directed to a lower court by an appellate court requiring the submission of the record of a legal action for review , in order to ascertain whether or not errors have been committed and so that the judgment may be upheld , reversed , or corrected
administrative error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
contain an error
An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong , or which should not have been done.
error of closure
the amount by which a computed , plotted , or observed quantity or position differs from the true or established one, esp when plotting a closed traverse
NASA discovered a mathematical error in its calculations.
Synonyms
mistake
He says there must have been some mistake.
slip
There must be no slips.
fault
It was a genuine fault.
blunder
I think we have made a tactical blunder.
flaw
Almost all these studies have serious flaws.
boob (British, slang)
delusion
I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.
oversight
By an unfortunate oversight, full instructions do not come with the product.
misconception
There are many fears and misconceptions about cancer.
fallacy
This is the biggest fallacy of all.
inaccuracy
Guard against inaccuracies by checking with a variety of sources.
howler (informal)
I felt as if I had made an outrageous howler.
bloomer (British, informal)
miscalculation
misapprehension
We were under no misapprehension about the scale of the problem.
solecism (formal)
erratum
Books often contain at least one erratum.
barry or Barry Crocker (Australian, slang)
boner (slang, mainly US)
phrase
See in error
Quotations
Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immense [Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke – Reflections upon Exile]Crooked things may be as stiff and unflexible as straight; and men may be as positive in error as in truth [John Locke – Essay Concerning Human Understanding]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of blunder
Definition
a stupid or clumsy mistake
I think we have made a tactical blunder.
Synonyms
mistake,
slip,
fault,
error,
boob (British, slang),
oversight,
gaffe,
slip-up (informal),
indiscretion,
impropriety,
howler (informal),
bloomer (British, informal),
clanger (informal),
faux pas,
boo-boo (informal),
gaucherie,
barry or Barry Crocker (Australian, slang)
in the sense of delusion
Definition
a mistaken idea or belief
I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.