scapegoat

One that is made to bear the blame of others.

A live goat over whose head Aaron confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of Atonement. The goat, symbolically bearing their sins, was then sent into the wilderness.

To make a scapegoat of.

In the ancient Jewish ritual, a goat on which the chief priest, on the day of atonement, symbolically laid the sins of the people. The goat was then driven into the wilderness. Lev. xvi.

One who is made to bear the blame of the misdeeds of others.

A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness.

Hence, a person or thing that is made to bear blame for others.

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 punished for the error or errors of someone else.

To punish someone for the error or errors of someone else; to make a scapegoat of.