scapegoat


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scape·goat

 (skāp′gōt′)
n.
1. One that is made to bear the blame of others.
2. Bible A live goat over whose head Aaron confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of Atonement. The goat, symbolically bearing their sins, was then sent into the wilderness.
tr.v. scape·goat·ed, scape·goat·ing, scape·goats
To make a scapegoat of.

[scape + goat (translation of Hebrew 'ēz 'ōzēl, goat that escapes, misreading of 'ăzā'zēl, Azazel).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

scapegoat

(ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt)
n
1. a person made to bear the blame for others
2. (Bible) Old Testament a goat used in the ritual of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16); it was symbolically laden with the sins of the Israelites and sent into the wilderness to be destroyed
vb
(tr) to make a scapegoat of
[C16: from escape + goat, coined by William Tyndale to translate Biblical Hebrew azāzēl (probably) goat for Azazel, mistakenly thought to mean 'goat that escapes']
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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.
[1530; scape2 + goat, as a translation of Hebrew ‘azāzel]
scape′goat•ism, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.scapegoat - someone who is punished for the errors of others
victim - an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

scapegoat

noun
1. fall guy, victim, patsy (informal), whipping boy Her supporters see her as a scapegoat for a policy that failed.
verb
1. blame, hold responsible, accuse, point a or the finger at He has been scapegoated for the lack of jobs and housing problems
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

scapegoat

noun
One who is made an object of blame:
Slang: fall guy, patsy.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
كَبْش الفِداء، حامِل وِزْر غَيْرِهكبش فداء
obětní beránek
syndebuk
syntipukki
bûnbakbűnbak
kambing hitam
blóraböggull
atpirkimo ožys
grēkāzis
kozioł ofiarny
bode expiatório
obetný baránok
syndabock
günah keçisişamar oğlanı

scapegoat

[ˈskeɪpgəʊt] Ncabeza f de turco, chivo m expiatorio
to be a scapegoat forpagar el pato por, pagar los cristales rotos por
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

scapegoat

[ˈskeɪpgəʊt] nbouc m émissaire
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

scapegoat

nSündenbock m; to be a scapegoat for somethingfür etw der Sündenbock sein; to use somebody/something as a scapegoat, to make somebody/something one’s scapegoatjdm/einer Sache die Schuld zuschieben
vtdie Schuld zuschieben (+dat)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

scapegoat

[ˈskeɪpˌgəʊt] ncapro espiatorio
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

scapegoat

(ˈskeipgəut) noun
a person who is blamed or punished for the mistakes of others. The manager of the football team was made a scapegoat for the team's failure, and was forced to resign.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Scenery of the Way-lee-way A substitute for tobacco Sublime scenery of Snake River The garrulous old chief and his cousin A Nez Perce meeting A stolen skin The scapegoat dog Mysterious conferences The little chief His hospitality The captain's account of the United States His healing skill
On entering the drawing room Stepan Arkadyevitch apologized, explaining that he had been detained by that prince, who was always the scapegoat for all his absences and unpunctualities, and in one moment he had made all the guests acquainted with each other, and, bringing together Alexey Alexandrovitch and Sergey Koznishev, started them on a discussion of the Russification of Poland, into which they immediately plunged with Pestsov.
Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would have been less prone to make me the scapegoat of the nursery.
From it, in ancient times, the Jewish High Priest turned loose the scapegoat and let him flee to the wilderness and bear away his twelve- month load of the sins of the people.
This was his scapegoat; but his excitement was caused by something quite different.
I may be wrong, for I am ill-versed in religious matters, but my conception of God and scapegoat be not that they are synonymous."
Often, the whole colony were playing at blindman's buff, magistrates and all, with their eyes bandaged, except a single scapegoat, whom the blinded sinners pursued by the tinkling of the bells at his garments.
And he convinced us all; so lots were cast, And I, unlucky scapegoat, drew the prize.
Methinks that thou and thine abettor soon Will rue your plot to drive the scapegoat out.
'My scapegoat and my drudge at school,' he said, raising his head to look after him; 'my friend of later days, who could not keep his mistress when he had won her, and threw me in her way to carry off the prize; I triumph in the present and the past.
Phillips's brief reforming energy was over; he didn't want the bother of punishing a dozen pupils; but it was necessary to do something to save his word, so he looked about for a scapegoat and found it in Anne, who had dropped into her seat, gasping for breath, with a forgotten lily wreath hanging askew over one ear and giving her a particularly rakish and disheveled appearance.
Exemplary wives will sometimes find scapegoats in this way.