pin the blame on

idiomatic phrase

: to assign (someone) the blame for something
When he got caught, he tried to pin the blame on someone else.
Eventually, researchers and governments did definitively pin the blame for that incident on the Russian government …Patrick Howell O'Neill

Examples of pin the blame on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The owner pinned the blame on financial issues in a text to workers on Monday. Dennis Valera, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026 Young families may need to pay a whopping $75,000 on a down payment. Democrats and some populist Republicans have convinced the Trump administration to pin the blame on institutional investors, including large banks, private equity firms and hedge funds. Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 26 Jan. 2026 The fighting is already underway with the president trying to pin the blame on Democrats. Juan Williams, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026 While expense management and restructuring have been cited as reasons by Verizon and Intel, Amazon has pinned the blame on employee culture. PC Magazine, 20 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pin the blame on

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pin the blame on was in 1892

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Cite this Entry

“Pin the blame on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pin%20the%20blame%20on. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

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