rake-stepping

plural rake-steppings · alternative rake stepping

1. countableslanguncountableThe act of repeatedly making damaging and avoidable mistakes.

   But the rake-stepping won’t stop, and the attacks won’t go away, raising the question of whether there will come a tipping point for Biden.

   2019 August 13, Tina Nguyen, “Biden Advisers Worry the Gaffes Are Becoming a Problem”, in Vanity Fair

   2 more examples

   And despite occasional attempts at reform, usually in response to some epic rake-stepping by the agency, federal disaster relief has gotten no simpler or more effective.

   2023 September 12, Mark Gongloff, FEMA Isn’t Ready for Our New Age of Climate Disasters, Bloomberg

   VP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf oozes with, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing …” and has deftly escaped any blame for the personnel rake-stepping of the past few seasons.

   2024 June 19, Tom E. Curran, “Five burning questions the Patriots need to answer this summer”, in NBC Sports Boston