whipping boy

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Definitions from WordNet

Noun whipping boy has 1 sense

scapegoat, whipping boy - someone punished for the errors of others
--₁ is a kind of victim

Definitions from the Web

Whipping Boy

Definition:

A whipping boy refers to a person who takes the blame or punishment for someone else's faults or mistakes.

Sense 1:

Noun

A whipping boy is a historically known practice where a young boy, often of noble birth, was assigned to receive corporal punishment on behalf of a prince or young king as a form of discipline.

Example sentence: The prince's father hired a whipping boy to be his son's punishment proxy.

Sense 2:

Noun

Informally, a whipping boy is a metaphorical term used in modern language to describe someone who repeatedly takes the blame or punishment for others, especially in a group or organization.

Example sentence: Poor Tim became the office whipping boy, always getting blamed for mistakes made by his colleagues.

Sense 3:

Noun

In popular terms, a whipping boy can refer to a person or thing that is consistently mocked, criticized, or used as an easy target for jokes.

Example sentence: The struggling team's goalie became the whipping boy for their recent string of losses.