Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

scapegoat

Pronunciation: /ˈskeɪpgəʊt/

Translate scapegoat | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of scapegoat

noun

  • 1a 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

[with object]
  • make a scapegoat of: secret police scapegoated a few of the ringleaders to put an end to the issue

Origin:

mid 16th century: from archaic scape 'escape' + goat

scapegoat in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of scapegoat in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …