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 Rodrygo has become the sacrificial lamb of a tactical rearrangement, and seems to have lost importance with his manager while being more increasingly confined to the bench. —

Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 Israel is not, is not a sacrificial lamb for the Iranians or for their proxies. —

Eric Cortellessa/jerusalem, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024 And oftentimes, Black women are the sacrificial lambs. —

Taylor Crumpton, TIME, 19 July 2024 Harvey Weinstein and the rest of these high profile Hollywood elites were merely sacrificial lambs. —

Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post, 18 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for sacrificial lamb

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sacrificial lamb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of sacrificial lamb was in 1834

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sacrificial lamb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacrificial%20lamb. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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