take the rap
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
accept blame or punishment for something
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
chấp nhận trách nhiệm hoặc hình phạt cho một việc gì đó
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: take the blame or criticism
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He took the rap for his friend's mistake
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “take the rap” mean?
accept blame or punishment for something Literally: take the blame or criticism
Is “take the rap” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.