take the rap

1. To be punished or blamed, especially when innocent: “The crime boss arranged it so that his underling took the rap for the insurance scam.”

Idioms and Phrases

Be punished or blamed for something, as in I don't want to take the rap for Mary, who forgot to mail the check in time , or Steve is such a nice guy that he's always taking the rap for his colleagues . This slangy idiom originally used rap in the sense of “a criminal charge,” a usage still current. By the mid-1900s it was also used more broadly.

Example Sentences

The row between Ms Badenoch and Mr Staunton started when Mr Staunton told the Sunday Times that Ms Badenoch had said "someone's got to take the rap" during his sacking last month, and that a senior civil servant had instructed the rate of payments to be slowed.

From BBC

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Henry Staunton said that when he was sacked Ms Badenoch told him: "Someone's got to take the rap" for Post Office failings - a claim she has denied.

From BBC

Mr Staunton also said that when he was sacked, Ms Badenoch had told him: "Someone's got to take the rap."

From BBC

Staunton told the Sunday Times that when he was sacked Badenoch had told him: "Someone's got to take the rap."

From BBC

He also told the Sunday Times the alleged request was linked to concerns about the cost of compensation heading into the election - and that Badenoch told him that "someone's got to take the rap" for the Horizon scandal.

From BBC