I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
apportion blame (= say who deserves to be blamed )
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It’s not easy to apportion blame when a marriage breaks up.
blame the victim (= to say that someone is responsible for their own bad situation )
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It is blaming the victim to ask the woman what she does that makes her husband lose his temper and hit her.
fault/blame/responsibility lies with sb
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Part of the blame must lie with social services.
pin the blame on
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Don’t try to pin the blame on me!
point...finger of blame
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I don’t want to point a finger of blame at anyone.
shoulder the blame
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Parents are being made to shoulder the blame.
take the credit/blame/responsibility
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He’s the kind of man who makes things happen but lets others take the credit.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
hardly
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And she could hardly blame him after the disaster of their own brief marriage, Laura now thought wryly.
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A lot of that was dangerously below code, but you could hardly blame people.
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We could hardly blame anyone, students or advisers, if they didn't.
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The authorities had become very protective, and one hardly blamed them.
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Jasper wasn't too keen to start with and you can hardly blame him, but now he's fine about it.
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You could hardly blame them, though, for feeling bewildered from time to time.
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You can hardly blame Dixons for not making this suggestion.
partly
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Mr Hanley also partly blamed a lack of support among the employers of part-timers for the drop in their numbers.
widely
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Mr Delors has been widely blamed for causing the latest crisis.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
blame/shoot the messenger
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Criticising Alan for saying how well scum are playing is a bit like shooting the messenger who brings bad news.
the finger of blame/suspicion
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He says it doesn't make sense to point the finger of blame, it's the law that is at fault.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Democrats have blamed Republicans for the failure to reach an agreement.
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Everyone wants to blame the referees when their team loses.
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For many years I blamed myself for her death.
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It's your idea - don't blame me if it doesn't work.
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Some of the women blamed their husbands' violence on drinking.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Apple blamed weaker-than-expected demand and pricing pressures.
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But anomalies like these should not be blamed on linguistics, higher mathematics or the new history.
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Here again, the vagaries of Government policy are at least partly to blame .
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It wasn't my character, but circumstances which were to blame .
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Peres is to be blamed for nothing.
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The angry Texan blamed his dance partner for tripping him.
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You had to talk to those dear old folk at the Empress and I don't blame you.
II. noun
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
accept responsibility/blame for sth
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All you can do in such cases is accept responsibility for the emotions you feel when you are around such people.
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Governors need to inform themselves thoroughly about the current state of the school building before they accept responsibility for it.
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If people are to accept responsibility for outcomes, they will insist upon being substantively included in the decision process.
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May we learn to accept responsibility for our own actions and inactions and for our mistakes as well as for our success.
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One central committee member, Ognjen Krstulovic, resigned because he could not accept responsibility for the implementation of the policy.
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People in a position of influence could accept responsibility for implementing the results.
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These must be obtained personally and we can not accept responsibility for them.
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You have to accept responsibility for the fruits of your actions, in the scientific field as elsewhere.
blame/shoot the messenger
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Criticising Alan for saying how well scum are playing is a bit like shooting the messenger who brings bad news.
come in for criticism/blame/scrutiny
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Thompson came in for sharp criticism from women's groups.
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Mr Gonzalez has also come in for criticism from within his own party.
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NTOs have come in for criticism for failing to make significant strides in plugging the skills gap.
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The Belfry came in for criticism with some newspapers saying it was no place to stage a match of this importance.
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The Court of Appeal has struggled to reconcile the two decisions but has come in for criticism.
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The patient's colour, face and body features as well as pulse and tongue will also come in for scrutiny.
shift the blame/responsibility (onto sb)
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A third means of avoiding responsibility consists of shifting the blame to even higher officials.
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He had to shift the blame, find a sacrificial victim.
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Her comments on Radio Derby came as Tories tried to shift the blame for Britain's economic ills elsewhere.
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In other words that they were shifting the blame.
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It shifts the blame to belief.
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Leaving the abusive marriage, or divorcing him, will be branded desertion or a sin, shifting the blame to her.
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Penney also shifted the responsibilities and titles of several other executives in different regions.
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Time after time, ministers have tried to shift the blame for rising unemployment to the down-turn in the world economy.
the finger of blame/suspicion
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He says it doesn't make sense to point the finger of blame, it's the law that is at fault.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But listening to Ferrell and Armstrong, it sounded like there was plenty of blame to go around.
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Do not place the blame anywhere but on yourself, because you alone have chosen that path.
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Hence, she is considered to share the blame .
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If we allow that logic then, the time must be approaching that the guy taking credit must now accept the blame .
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Pitta's critics concede that many quarters share the blame for Sao Paulo's afflictions.
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Taylor deserves a dollop of the blame .
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The city was rife with forlorn single women, and there was plenty of blame to go around.