"step on a rake" meaning in English

See step on a rake in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-step on a rake.ogg Forms: steps on a rake [present, singular, third-person], stepping on a rake [participle, present], stepped on a rake [participle, past], stepped on a rake [past]
Etymology: The second sense was popularized by a gag in the 1993 episode "Cape Feare" of The Simpsons, in which Sideshow Bob, already injured, accidentally steps on several rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} step on a rake (third-person singular simple present steps on a rake, present participle stepping on a rake, simple past and past participle stepped on a rake)
  1. (literally) To step on the tines of a garden rake, causing the handle of the rake to rise from the ground rapidly, striking the person walking in the face. Tags: literally Related terms: rake-stepping
    Sense id: en-step_on_a_rake-en-verb-lQyn~yot
  2. (idiomatic) To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error. Tags: idiomatic Translations (idiom: to fall victim to a hazard): astua miinaan (Finnish), kāpt uz grābekļa (Latvian), наступи́ть на гра́бли (nastupítʹ na grábli) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-step_on_a_rake-en-verb-mYt2fz6L Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Latvian translations, Terms with Russian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 63 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 36 64 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 35 65 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 26 74 Disambiguation of Terms with Latvian translations: 41 59 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 27 73 Disambiguation of 'idiom: to fall victim to a hazard': 10 90
{
  "etymology_text": "The second sense was popularized by a gag in the 1993 episode \"Cape Feare\" of The Simpsons, in which Sideshow Bob, already injured, accidentally steps on several rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepping on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "step on a rake (third-person singular simple present steps on a rake, present participle stepping on a rake, simple past and past participle stepped on a rake)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To step on the tines of a garden rake, causing the handle of the rake to rise from the ground rapidly, striking the person walking in the face."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_on_a_rake-en-verb-lQyn~yot",
      "links": [
        [
          "tines",
          "tine"
        ],
        [
          "rake",
          "rake"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literally) To step on the tines of a garden rake, causing the handle of the rake to rise from the ground rapidly, striking the person walking in the face."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "word": "rake-stepping"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "37 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 74",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Latvian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 73",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012 August 16, Kevin Roose, “The Libor Scandal Is About to Hit Home”, in Intelligencer:",
          "text": "But having seen Wall Street step on a rake time and time again when it comes to incriminating e-mails and villainous characters, you can be fairly confident that Liborgate is going to be just as big a hit in the U.S. as it was abroad.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 July 6, Scott Stinson, “Scott Stinson: The MLB could have come out on top of COVID-19. Instead, it's descending into chaos”, in National Post:",
          "text": "Major League Baseball has displayed a unique ability to step on a rake in recent years, with a championship team marred by a cheating scandal and a sudden change in the performance of its baseballs that the league has been unable to explain.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 9, Evan Michealson, What to make of a weird Timberwolves team, 20223, page 9:",
          "text": "Looking at the team's schedule to this point reveals signs of progress followed immediately by stepping on a rake.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_on_a_rake-en-verb-mYt2fz6L",
      "links": [
        [
          "avoidable",
          "avoidable"
        ],
        [
          "self-caused",
          "self-caused"
        ],
        [
          "hazard",
          "hazard"
        ],
        [
          "error",
          "error"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
          "word": "astua miinaan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "lv",
          "lang": "Latvian",
          "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
          "word": "kāpt uz grābekļa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nastupítʹ na grábli",
          "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
          "word": "наступи́ть на гра́бли"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step on a rake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Cape Feare",
    "Sideshow Bob",
    "The Simpsons"
  ],
  "word": "step on a rake"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with Latvian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The second sense was popularized by a gag in the 1993 episode \"Cape Feare\" of The Simpsons, in which Sideshow Bob, already injured, accidentally steps on several rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepping on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped on a rake",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "step on a rake (third-person singular simple present steps on a rake, present participle stepping on a rake, simple past and past participle stepped on a rake)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "rake-stepping"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To step on the tines of a garden rake, causing the handle of the rake to rise from the ground rapidly, striking the person walking in the face."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tines",
          "tine"
        ],
        [
          "rake",
          "rake"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literally) To step on the tines of a garden rake, causing the handle of the rake to rise from the ground rapidly, striking the person walking in the face."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012 August 16, Kevin Roose, “The Libor Scandal Is About to Hit Home”, in Intelligencer:",
          "text": "But having seen Wall Street step on a rake time and time again when it comes to incriminating e-mails and villainous characters, you can be fairly confident that Liborgate is going to be just as big a hit in the U.S. as it was abroad.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 July 6, Scott Stinson, “Scott Stinson: The MLB could have come out on top of COVID-19. Instead, it's descending into chaos”, in National Post:",
          "text": "Major League Baseball has displayed a unique ability to step on a rake in recent years, with a championship team marred by a cheating scandal and a sudden change in the performance of its baseballs that the league has been unable to explain.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 9, Evan Michealson, What to make of a weird Timberwolves team, 20223, page 9:",
          "text": "Looking at the team's schedule to this point reveals signs of progress followed immediately by stepping on a rake.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "avoidable",
          "avoidable"
        ],
        [
          "self-caused",
          "self-caused"
        ],
        [
          "hazard",
          "hazard"
        ],
        [
          "error",
          "error"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step on a rake.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/En-au-step_on_a_rake.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
      "word": "astua miinaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
      "word": "kāpt uz grābekļa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nastupítʹ na grábli",
      "sense": "idiom: to fall victim to a hazard",
      "word": "наступи́ть на гра́бли"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Cape Feare",
    "Sideshow Bob",
    "The Simpsons"
  ],
  "word": "step on a rake"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (b941637 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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