MISHAP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mishap mean? 

• MISHAP (noun)
  The noun MISHAP has 2 senses:

1. an unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate

2. an instance of misfortune

  Familiarity information: MISHAP used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MISHAP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

bad luck; mischance; mishap

Context example:

if I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all

Hypernyms ("mishap" is a kind of...):

chance; fortune; hazard; luck (an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An instance of misfortune

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

misadventure; mischance; mishap

Hypernyms ("mishap" is a kind of...):

bad luck; misfortune (unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mishap"):

accident (an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury)

near miss (an accidental collision that is narrowly avoided)

derailment (an accident in which a train runs off its track)

ground loop (a sharp uncontrollable turn made by an airplane while moving along the ground)

puncture (loss of air pressure in a tire when a hole is made by some sharp object)

slip; trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

crash ((computer science) an event that causes a computer system to become inoperative)

 Context examples 

Dorothy was quite grieved at this mishap.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

But with every mishap he was learning.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Why, you see, Miss Eyre, it is not a common mishap: his life has been very wild: these last three years he gave himself up to strange ways, and his death was shocking.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

An indication that the subject's death or sacrifice was due to a mishap or technical/operational error.

(Accidental Death, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

An indication that the subject's death was due to a mishap.

(Accidental Death, NCI Thesaurus)

After various lesser mishaps, Meg was finished at last, and by the united exertions of the entire family Jo's hair was got up and her dress on.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But I called up all my resolution, set my teeth, and hobbled back and forth from galley to cabin and cabin to galley without further mishap.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

No mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest, and night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and did not worry on their account.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

On the other side, I announced to my servants that a Mr. Hyde (whom I described) was to have full liberty and power about my house in the square; and to parry mishaps, I even called and made myself a familiar object, in my second character.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It never hurt him, however, and Dorothy would pick him up and set him upon his feet again, while he joined her in laughing merrily at his own mishap.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)