scapegoat in German

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.

Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.

Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.

(transitive, intransitive) To unfairly blame or punish someone for some failure; to make a scapegoat of.