Associations to the word «Scapegoat»

Wiktionary

SCAPEGOAT, noun. In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a goat symbolically imbued with the sins of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed.
SCAPEGOAT, noun. Someone punished for the error or errors of someone else.
SCAPEGOAT, verb. (transitive) To punish someone for the error or errors of someone else; to make a scapegoat of.
SCAPEGOAT, verb. (transitive) To blame something for the problems of a given society without evidence to back up the claim.

Dictionary definition

SCAPEGOAT, noun. Someone who is punished for the errors of others.

Wise words

Every once in a while, you let a word or phrase out and you want to catch it and bring it back. You can't do that. It's gone, gone forever.
Dan Quayle