blame

blame

I. blame¹ 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. | Police blamed bad weather for a series of accidents on the roads. | For many years I blamed myself for her death. | 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! | Subsequent investigations placed the blame squarely on city officials. | 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. | Alan’s colleagues decided to let him carry the can.