BLAME


Meaning of BLAME in English

I. blame 1 S2 W3 /bleɪm/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: blamer , from Late Latin blasphemare ; ⇨ ↑ blaspheme ]

1 . to say or think that someone or something is responsible for something bad:

Don’t blame me – it’s not my fault.

I blame his mother. She does everything for him.

blame somebody/something for something

Marie still blames herself for Patrick’s death.

The report blames poor safety standards for the accident.

The decision to increase interest rates was widely blamed (=blamed by many people) for the crisis.

blame something on somebody/something

One of the computers is broken and she’s blaming it on me.

The crash was blamed on pilot error.

2 . somebody/something is to blame (for something) used to say that someone or something is responsible for something bad:

Officials believe that more than one person may be to blame for the fire.

partly/largely/entirely etc to blame

Television is partly to blame.

REGISTER

In everyday English, people usually say something is someone's fault , rather than saying they are to blame :

▪ He was to blame for the accident. ➔ The accident was his fault.

3 . I don’t blame you/you can hardly blame him etc spoken used to say that you think it was right or reasonable for someone to do what they did:

‘She’s left her husband.’ ‘I don’t blame her, after the way he treated her.’

You can hardly blame him for not waiting.

4 . don’t blame me spoken used when you are advising someone not to do something but you think that they will do it in spite of your advice:

Buy it then, but don’t blame me when it breaks down.

5 . somebody only has himself/herself to blame spoken used to say that someone’s problems are their own fault:

If he fails his exams, he’ll only have himself to blame.

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THESAURUS

▪ blame verb [transitive] to say or think that someone or something is responsible for something bad that has happened:

Democrats have blamed Republicans for the failure to reach an agreement.

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Police blamed bad weather for a series of accidents on the roads.

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For many years I blamed myself for her death.

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They blamed the failure of the business on the economic downturn.

▪ put/place/lay the blame on somebody/something to say who or what you think is responsible for something bad that has happened, often unfairly or wrongly:

Don’t try to put the blame on me!

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Subsequent investigations placed the blame squarely on city officials.

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Farmers have laid the blame for their problems entirely on EU policies.

▪ say it’s sb’s fault especially spoken to say that someone is responsible for something bad that has happened:

Are you saying it’s my fault that we lost the game?

▪ hold somebody responsible to say that someone is responsible for something bad that has happened, because it was their duty to prevent it from happening:

He was held personally responsible for the failure of the project.

▪ take the rap informal ( also carry the can British English informal ) to be blamed and punished for something that you did not do, or that someone else is also responsible for:

He expects his wife to take the rap for him.

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Alan’s colleagues decided to let him carry the can.

II. blame 2 BrE AmE noun [uncountable]

responsibility for a mistake or for something bad

blame for

Do you accept any blame for what happened?

I always get the blame (=am blamed) for his mistakes!

She stole the money but she’s trying to put the blame on (=blame) me.

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COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ get the blame (=be blamed)

Sam knew that if something went wrong, he’d get the blame.

▪ take/accept/shoulder the blame (=say that something is your fault)

No one was prepared to take the blame for the disaster.

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Parents must shoulder the blame if their kids behave badly.

▪ put/pin the blame on somebody ( also lay/place the blame on somebody written ) (=blame someone, especially when it is not their fault)

Don’t try to put the blame on me.

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Everyone laid the blame for the crisis on the government.

▪ shift the blame (onto somebody) (=blame someone else for something you did)

She always tried to shift the blame onto her brother.

▪ apportion/assign blame formal (=find someone to blame for something)

He seemed to want to apportion blame for her death.

▪ share the blame

He admitted he shared the blame for their World Cup defeat.

▪ the blame lies with somebody (=used to say that someone is responsible for something bad)

In this case, the blame lay with the police.

■ phrases

▪ place the blame squarely/firmly on somebody (=blame someone in a very definite way)

A military investigation placed the blame squarely on city officials.

▪ point the finger of blame at somebody (=say that someone is responsible for something bad)

I couldn’t believe it when they started pointing the finger of blame at me.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.