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# misquote

verb (misquote, misquotes, misquoted, misquoting); noun (a misquote, misquotes)

«misquote» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To repeat someone's words wrongly, either by mistake or on purpose to change their meaning. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#m1)
2. (noun) A wrong quotation. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#m2)

### In the lessons

In English and history lessons, famous lines are often misquoted: «Elementary, my dear Watson» never appears exactly in the original Sherlock Holmes books; «Beam me up, Scotty» was never said exactly in Star Trek. In news and media literacy lessons, misquoting can spread false information, so check the original source. Phrases: «be misquoted», «a famous misquote».

### Examples

- The newspaper misquoted the head teacher. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x1)
- «Play it again, Sam» is a famous misquote from the film «Casablanca». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x2)
- Always check the original before you quote, so you don't misquote. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x3)
- The politician said he had been misquoted. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x4)
- She misquoted the poem, mixing up two lines. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x5)
- Misquoting someone can change what they meant. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x6)
- «Elementary, my dear Watson» is a misquote of the Holmes books. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x7)
- The film poster misquoted a review to make it sound better. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/#x8)

### Note

Regular verb: misquoted. The noun is «misquote» or «misquotation». Related: quote, quotation, quotation marks. In history, misquotes can stick for centuries. Not a maths word.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «misquote» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/misquote/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«misquote» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/misquote.html) on Mova free.