stepping on a rake

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.
2. (idiomatic) To fall victim to an avoidable (usually self-caused) hazard or error.
   • Our President [Franklin Roosevelt] stepped on a rake last week, and the handle hopped up and hit him in the eye. He then blamed the press for leaving the rake lying around.1939, Editor & Publisher, volume 72, page 3