scapegoat Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who is punished for the errors of others
    whipping boy.

WordNet

Scape"goat` noun
Etymology
Scape (for escape) + goat.
Definitions
  1. (Jewish Antiq.) A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness. Lev. xvi. 10.
  2. Hence, a person or thing that is made to bear blame for others. Tennyson.

Webster 1913