take the fall

Idioms and Phrases

Incur blame or censure for another's misdeeds, as in She's taken the fall for you in terms of any political damage , or A senior official took the fall for the failed intelligence operation . This expression originated in the 1920s as underworld slang. It began to be extended to less criminal kinds of blame in the second half of the 1900s. Also see take a fall , def. 2.

Example Sentences

Didn’t Alito have someone else minding that house — a caretaker, or a cleaner — whom he could convince to take the fall?

From Salon

The job is to take the fall, endure the pain, break the bone, then walk away — unsung, battered and bruised.

From New York Times

The Lakers are on the precipice of a second consecutive playoff disaster, and it’s becoming clear who could take the fall.

From Los Angeles Times

Not an illegal gambler who arranged for his helpless interpreter to take the fall.

From Los Angeles Times

But that is because he is a master at finding someone else to take the fall for him, from the January 6 defendants to his former lawyer Michael Cohen to Fox News and Rudy Giuliani.

From Salon

Related Words

• blame
• condemn
• confine
• convict
• imprison
• incarcerate
• jail
• penalize
• punish