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- Dictionaryscapegoat/ˈskeɪpɡəʊt/
noun
- 1. a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.
- 2. (in the Bible) a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish chief priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it (Lev. 16).
verb
- 1. make a scapegoat of: "few things are harder for kids to bear than being scapegoated"
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The meaning of SCAPEGOAT is a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur. How to use scapegoat in a sentence.
someone who is blamed or punished for another’s faults or actions: When things don’t go well, people always look for a scapegoat. (Definition of scapegoat from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
scapegoat. A person or group that is made to bear blame for others. According to the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement, a priest would confess all the sins of the Israelites over the head of a goat and then drive it into the wilderness, symbolically bearing their sins away. Discover More.
someone who is blamed or punished for another’s faults or actions: When things don’t go well, people always look for a scapegoat.
To scapegoat someone means to blame them publicly for something bad that has happened, even though it was not their fault.
The word scapegoat first occurred in the earliest English translation of the Bible, and it has come to mean any individual punished for the misdeeds of others. When a politician gets caught lying, he or she might use an assistant as a scapegoat.
scape•goat. (ˈskeɪpˌgoʊt) n. 1. a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place. 2. a goat let loose in the wilderness on Yom Kippur after the high priest symbolically laid the sins of the people on its head. Lev. 16:8, 10, 26. v.t. 3. to make a scapegoat of.
Scapegoat Definition. One that is made to bear the blame of others. A goat over the head of which the high priest of the ancient Jews confessed the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement, after which it was allowed to escape: Lev. 16:7-26.
1. If you say that someone is made a scapegoat for something bad that has happened, you mean that people blame them and may punish them for it although it may not be their fault. [...] 2. To scapegoat someone means to blame them publicly for something bad that has happened, even though it was not their fault. [...]
someone who is blamed for a bad situation, although they have not caused it: He was made a scapegoat for the disaster. (Definition of scapegoat from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
