place blame

/pleɪs bleɪm/

verb phrase

  1. To say or decide that someone or something is responsible for a problem, mistake, or bad result.

    B2

    transitive; place blame on someone or something for something

    • "The manager placed the blame on the new employee for the mistake."B1
    • "It is unfair to place all the blame on one person when several factors caused the failure."B2
    • "She was quick to place blame on others rather than admitting her own errors."B2
    • "Rather than placing blame, the committee focused on identifying the underlying causes of the crisis."C1

Common mistakes

  • place blame to someone→place blame on someone

    Use on after place blame when identifying who or what is considered responsible.

Collocations

place the blame on someoneplace the blame on somethingplace blame for somethingavoid placing blameshift the blame

Word family

blameblamelessblameworthyblamer