by mistake

by mistake

Accidentally; unintentionally. I am so sorry, sir—I gave you the wrong dish by mistake. Oh, they hung up—they called the wrong number by mistake.
See also: by, mistake
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

by mistake

in error; accidentally. I'm sorry. I came into the wrong room by mistake. I chose the wrong road by mistake. Now we are lost.
See also: by, mistake
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

by mistake

Erroneously, as in He took my coat by mistake. [c. 1700]
See also: by, mistake
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

by miˈstake

accidentally; without intending to: I took your bag instead of mine by mistake.
See also: by, mistake
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • and no mistake
  • and no mistake!
  • mistake
  • an honest mistake
  • sorry ’bout that
  • sorry about that
  • mistake (someone or something) for (someone or something)
  • mistake for
  • punish (someone or oneself) for (something)
  • punish for
References in classic literature
I'm sure the cook's ladled some salt water into it by mistake."
Mirror of the Sea
Another said: "What about the blokes who shot down that passenger plane by mistake? Yep, that's a proper mistake."
"OM." PARDON MY STUPID MISTAKES
The approach usually is to start with 100 and then subtract--mistake by mistake by mistake.
Incentives, risk, and innovation: on the importance of the freedom to fail
But this Emirati's was not a case of mistaken identity, but that of showing a wrong identity card to the cops by mistake.
He told the policemen that he showed the identity card of the person who owed him money by mistake. He was referred to the Public Prosecution, which charged him with using an official document of another person and sent him to the Fujairah Court of First Instance.
A case of mistaken identity (card)
Indeed, Farnsworth implies a lighter-than-normal burden in cases in which a party seeks restitution of money paid by mistake. (88) The only heightened standard he notes is in cases in which the mistaken party seeks to reform one or more terms of an agreement.
21 n.15 ("In common parlance, the word accident is often used in a broader sense to include mishaps that result from mistakes, as where a collision resulting from a driver's having mistaken the significance of a traffic light is described as an 'accident.' "), but it undercuts Farnsworth's painstaking effort to define "mistake" and to distinguish mishaps caused by mistake from other mishaps, see pp.
If a debtor can prove that the same debt was paid twice, surely the debtor must have forgotten the first payment and made the second by mistake. Absent some defense, such as detrimental reliance by the recipient, such claims are routinely granted.
Alleviating Mistakes: Reversal and Forgiveness for Flawed Perceptions
Cast is a wonderful follow-up to Cast's first novel, Goddess by Mistake. Elphame's Choice is set in the same world, Partholon about 125 years after the events in Goddess by Mistake.
MacCallan Castle, according to Goddess by Mistake was the site of a terrible atrocity.
Her first book, Goddess by Mistake won the Holt Medallion in the category of best paranormal romance, The Prism Award, and the Laurel Wreath Award for Excellence in Published Romance Fiction.
Elphame's Choice
If a patient is currently taking an SSRI and Celexa is dispensed by mistake when Celebrex was intended, a potentially fatal overdose could occur.
Just what the doctor ordered--or is it?
Leaders respond with focused action to situations caused by mistakes.
Achieving leadership presence in a post-enron world. (Leading Questions)
The distribution of mistakes showed that toxicological (relative frequency 1.38%) and hematological (0.82%) tests seem to be more affected by mistakes than were clinical chemistry tests (0.11%).
Mistakes in a stat laboratory: types and frequency