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Meaning & use

slip through the cracks

phrase·Advancedfigurative

Last updated

UK/ˌslɪp θruː ðə ˈkræks/
US/ˌslɪp θruː ðə ˈkræks/

Meaning

  1. phraseidiomfigurative

    To be missed or overlooked by a system or process that should have noticed or dealt with you or the matter.

    Grammar: No object, and the subject is the thing or person overlooked: some details slipped through the cracks.

    Patterns

    • something slips through the cracks
    • let someone slip through the cracks

    Several patients slipped through the cracks because the records were not shared.

    I am sorry, your request slipped through the cracks.

    We need a checklist so that nothing slips through the cracks.

Word forms

third person singularslips through the cracks
past tenseslipped through the cracks
past participleslipped through the cracks
-ing formslipping through the cracks

Common combinations

let something slip through the cracks
Do not let the deadline slip through the cracks.
students slip through the cracks
Large classes mean some students slip through the cracks.
details slip through the cracks
When you are busy, small details can slip through the cracks.
stop people slipping through the cracks
The new program aims to stop people slipping through the cracks.
easy to slip through the cracks
In a big company it is easy to slip through the cracks.

Synonyms and how they differ

fall through the cracks
Means almost exactly the same and is equally common, with only a slight picture of dropping rather than sliding.
be overlooked
Plainer and literal, and does not carry the picture of a system failing.
go unnoticed
Says nobody saw it, but does not suggest that someone was supposed to catch it.

Opposites

be caught

Word family

slip verb
to slide or move quietly or by mistake
crack noun
a narrow gap
slip-up noun
a small mistake

Commonly confused: slip through the cracks or slip up?

slip through the cracks vs slip up

To slip up is to make a mistake yourself, while slipping through the cracks is being missed by someone else's system.

Practice

The paperwork was never filed because it ___ the cracks.

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