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whipping boy

noun

a person who is made to bear the blame for another's mistake; scapegoat.
(formerly) a boy educated along with and taking punishment in place of a young prince or nobleman.

whipping boy

noun

a person of little importance who is blamed for the errors, incompetence, etc, of others, esp his superiors; scapegoat

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Word History and Origins

Origin of whipping boy¹

First recorded in 1640–50

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Word History and Origins

Origin of whipping boy¹

C17: originally referring to a boy who was educated with a prince and who received punishment for any faults committed by the prince

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Idioms and Phrases

A scapegoat, as in This department's always been the whipping boy when things don't go well. This expression alludes to the former practice of keeping a boy to be whipped in place of a prince who was to be punished. [Early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

It was a solid game and I wanted to show a bit of love to Leicester because they've been the whipping boys all season.

From

Alluding to Hunter’s journey from lawyer to lobbyist to full-fledged crack addict to right-wing whipping boy, Berges concluded that “Hunter Biden’s story was the American story.”

From

As creators and consumers, educators and entertainers, whipping boys, final girls, sidekicks and suicides, queer people have, often invisibly, sometimes tragically, always forcefully shaped American culture, particularly through the prism of Hollywood.

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Toyota’s faith in democratizing hybrid technology turned the company, once an environmental darling, into a whipping boy as it was widely accused of foot-dragging over electric vehicles.

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"We have been described as the whipping boys of this group haven't we? Which we wouldn't have any other way," Sanderson added.

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