noun In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a goat symbolically imbued with the sins of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed.
noun Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.
He is making me a scapegoat for his own poor business decisions and the supply chain disruptions caused by the hurricane!
verb To unfairly blame or punish someone for some failure; to make a scapegoat of.