mistook


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mis·took

 (mĭ-sto͝ok′)
v.
Past tense of mistake.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mistook

(mɪˈstʊk)
vb
the past tense of mistake
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mis•take

(mɪˈsteɪk)

n., v. -took, -tak•en, -tak•ing. n.
1. an error in action, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.
2. a misunderstanding or misconception.
v.t.
3. to regard or identify wrongly as something or someone else: I mistook her for the mayor.
4. to understand, interpret, or evaluate wrongly.
v.i.
5. to be in error.
[1300–30; Middle English < Old Norse mistaka to take in error. See mis-1, take]
mis•tak′a•ble, adj.
mis•tak′a•bly, adv.
syn: mistake, error, blunder, slip refer to an inadvertent deviation from accuracy, correctness, truth, or right conduct. mistake refers to a wrong action, belief, or judgment; it may also suggest an incorrect understanding, perception, or interpretation: a mistake in arithmetic; It was a mistake to trust them. error is similar in sense, but may mean a deviation from a moral standard: I finally saw the error of my ways. blunder suggests a careless, clumsy, or stupid mistake, often serious: a tactical blunder. slip refers to a small mistake in speech or writing, or to a minor indiscretion: I misspelled his name by a slip of the pen.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
[*] This word, which the serjeant unhappily mistook for an affront,
Thus, Oliver Sacks's titular patient who, despite good eyesight and a high degree of intelligence, routinely perceived what he saw as being something else and could only identify individuals by some unique characteristic of their appearance or personal effects, see OLIVER SACKS, THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINICAL TALES 8-19 (HarperPerennial Edition 1990) (1970), could not avoid, on the basis of mistake, a contract he entered into with Lucy because he misperceived Lucy to be Snoopy.
CONKERS, turnips, plastic bags, patio chairs and plastic toys are among the objects people mistook for animals in distress this year, the RSPCA said today.