(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
1.
If you say that someone is made a ~ for something bad that has happened, you mean that people blame them and may punish them for it although it may not be their fault.
I don’t deserve to be made the ~ for a couple of bad results.
N-COUNT: oft N for n
2.
To ~ someone means to blame them publicly for something bad that has happened, even though it was not their fault.
Ethnic minorities are continually ~ed for the lack of jobs.
VERB: V n