Definitions for scapegoat
ˈskeɪpˌgoʊtscape·goat

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.0 / 3 votes

1. scapegoat, whipping boynoun

   someone who is punished for the errors of others

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scapegoatnoun

   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.

2. scapegoatnoun

   Someone punished for the error or errors of someone else.

   He is making me a scapegoat.

3. scapegoatverb

   To punish someone for the error or errors of someone else; to make a scapegoat of.

4. scapegoatverb

   To blame something for the problems of a given society without evidence to back up the claim.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scapegoat

   In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert to carry away the sins of the community. Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness. Practices with some similarities to the scapegoat ritual also appear in Ancient Greece and Ebla.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scapegoat

   A scapegoat is a person or group unjustly blamed for something or made to bear the blame for the mistakes or faults of others. The term has its origins in ancient Jewish customs, where a goat was symbolically burdened with the sins of the people then driven into the wilderness in an act of atonement.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Scapegoatnoun

   a goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness

2. Scapegoatnoun

   hence, a person or thing that is made to bear blame for others

3. Etymology: [Scape (for escape) + goat.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scapegoat

   skāp′gōt, n. a goat on which, once a year, the Jewish high-priest laid symbolically the sins of the people, and which was then allowed to escape into the wilderness (Levit. xvi.): one who is made to bear the misdeeds of another. [Escape and goat.]

Matched Categories

1. • Victim

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce scapegoat?

1. Alex

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How to say scapegoat in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of scapegoat in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of scapegoat in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of scapegoat in a Sentence

1. Edward Hoagland:

   Animals used to provide a lowlife way to kill and get away with it, as they do still, but, more intriguingly, for some people they are an aperture through which wounds drain. The scapegoat of olden times, driven off for the bystanders sins, has become a tender thing, a running injury. There, running away is me: hurt it and you are hurting me.

2. Chris Joyce:

   The salmon population is in great decline and recreational, commercial and tribal fishermen are looking at sea lions as a scapegoat.

3. Matthew Kaiser:

   Clearly there are problems at NOAA and NWS, but Mr. Jiron should not be the scapegoat for NOAA's broader problems.

4. Bridget Anne Kelly:

   I will not allow Bridget Anne Kelly to be the scapegoat in this case, and I look very much forward to the appeal.

5. Mike Lynch:

   After three years of (HP CEO) Meg Whitman's stonewalling, is this it?, hP's claim is finally laid bare for what it is -- a desperate search for a scapegoat for its own errors and incompetence.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=scapegoat
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scapegoat
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scapegoat
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=scapegoat
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=scapegoat