Meaning & use
misprint
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Meanings
nouncountable
A mistake in printed material, such as a wrong or missing letter, word, or number.
Grammar: Countable; used with a/an or in the plural: a misprint, several misprints.
Patterns
- a misprint in something
- correct a misprint
- full of misprints
The book was full of misprints, including the author's name spelled wrong.
There's a misprint on page 42: the date should be 1990, not 1909.
The newspaper issued a correction after a misprint in the headline.
verbtransitive
To print something incorrectly, especially because of a mistake in setting up the type.
Grammar: Takes an object: misprint a word, misprint the date.
Patterns
- misprint a word
- misprint something as something
- be misprinted
The publisher misprinted the title on the cover.
Her name was misprinted as 'Sara' instead of 'Sarah'.
The tickets were misprinted with the wrong time.
Word forms
| plural | misprints |
|---|---|
| third person singular | misprints |
| past tense | misprinted |
| past participle | misprinted |
| -ing form | misprinting |
Common combinations
- a misprint in the text
- There's a misprint in the text that changes the meaning of the sentence.
- correct a misprint
- The editor corrected the misprint before the second edition.
- a printing misprint
- A printing misprint left some pages blank.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- print verb
- To produce text or images on paper using a machine.
- printer noun
- A machine or person that prints.
Commonly confused: misprint or typo?
misprint vs typo
A typo is a mistake made while typing, while a misprint is a mistake made during the printing process. They can look the same but have different causes.
Practice
The newspaper apologized for a ___ that made the mayor's name look like a swear word.
Choose one answer.
'Misprint' is the best choice because the error happened in the printed newspaper. 'Typo' usually refers to typing errors, and 'mistake' and 'error' are too general.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “misprint”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.