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404 error

404 error

1 3.9
A message shown when a website page is not found
  • noun
  • Texting
translation icon : error 404
  • The website displayed a 404 error, which meant the requested page was no longer available.

Examples

  • Now, some sites have hidden their admin panels, so even if the above URLs return 404 errors, this doesn't mean that the site isn't running on WordPress.

    Blog text (8)
  • She received a 404 error while trying to access the website after the server was updated.

  • How many times a day do you get a 404 error message when looking for information on the internet?

    Blog text (21)
  • But it just gives me a 404 error.

    Blog text (24)
  • However, at the time she accessed it, the link was broken, resulting in a 404 error.

  • If you try to type in these URLs, they all give a 404 error.

    Blog text (21)
  • Valeria Setti, Project Officer for Missing Children in Europe, tells Mashable that instead of getting the dreaded 404 error, users will see a message that says "This page cannot be found."

    Blog text (21)
  • When I clicked the link, I was greeted with a 404 error indicating the page could not be found.

Synonyms

error
vs404 error
  • Specialized
300 3.0

A computer problem that makes a program give a wrong result or stop

is a specific web message saying the requested page was not found on server

Antonyms

200
  • Texting
80 3.4

A web server reply that shows a request worked

Surface Forms

404 error singular
404 errors plural

Morphology

404 + error

The word 'error' signals a problem, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would infer that something has gone wrong on a website, but they would not be able to deduce the specific sense 'page not found' because '404' is an arbitrary HTTP status code whose precise meaning is conventional. The numeric code is standardized across languages (so recognizable in web contexts) but its exact interpretation must be learned, making the expression only partially predictable.

Etymology

The name 404 error comes from early web servers that used simple numbers to name each problem. The number '404' was the code for 'page not found', so when a browser cannot find a web page you see a 404 error.