[uncountable] blame (for something) responsibility for doing something badly or wrongly; saying that somebody is responsible for something to lay/put the blame for something on somebody The government will have to take the blame for the riots. Why do I always get the blame for everything that goes wrong? I’m not interested in apportioning blame for the accident (= deciding how much each person involved was responsible for it). compare credit (7) Oxford Collocations Dictionary verb + blameget, accept, bear, … blame + verbfall on somebody, lie with somebody, rest with somebody, … prepositionblame for phraseslay the blame at somebody’s door, part of the blame, a share of the blame, … See full entry Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French blamer, blasmer (verb), from a popular Latin variant of ecclesiastical Latin blasphemare ‘reproach, revile, blaspheme’, from Greek blasphēmein, from blasphēmos ‘evil-speaking’.Extra examples He was absolved of all blame. My brother broke the window, but I got the blame. The blame lies with the police, who failed to act quickly enough. The company refused to accept any blame for the damage. The government must share the blame for this confusion. The government tried to lay the blame at the door of the unions. They placed the blame squarely on the doctor. They tried to shift the blame onto someone else. I’m not interested in apportioning blame for the accident. She put the blame on me.
Check pronunciation: blame
