sacrificial lamb

noun

: someone or something that is deliberately sacrificed to promote a cause or for the benefit of others

… has become the sacrificial lamb to deflect criticism about exaggerated charges used to make the case for war on Iraq.

—John Diamond

Yet some women complain that they are recruited as sacrificial lambs to fill out tickets against incumbents regarded as unbeatable.

—Patricia A. Avery

Examples of sacrificial lamb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Harvey Weinstein and the rest of these high profile Hollywood elites were merely sacrificial lambs. —Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post, 18 June 2024

Based on Sanders’ statement, Novo Nordisk is the latest sacrificial lamb in a long-running fight with the pharmaceutical industry, which has a long history of extensive lobbying to maintain its profits at the expense of the consumer. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 17 June 2024

As the alternative sacrificial lamb, said our source, Navarro put forward withdrawal from KORUS. —Richard Katz, Foreign Affairs, 15 Sep. 2017

And yet, despite their similar positional profiles, there was never any question who would be the sacrificial lamb. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024

Orsted will have wanted to avoid becoming the sacrificial lamb in the right’s latest rampage against the offshore wind sector. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 17 Nov. 2023

Indeed, Paris may be the unfortunate sacrificial lamb in an apparent epidemic that has been a long time coming across the rest of the globe. —Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2023

After years of romping over Republican sacrificial lambs in elections, she was confronted in her quest for a sixth straight Senate victory in 2018 by her own restive party. —Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023

Venice shouldn’t be used as a sacrificial lamb to make a point. —Catherine Bennett, WIRED, 15 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above