fall on one's sword

Verb

fall on one's sword (third-person singular simple present falls on one's sword, present participle falling on one's sword, simple past fell on one's sword, past participle fallen on one's sword)

1. (broadly, idiomatic) To resign from a job or other position of responsibility, especially when pressured to do so.
   • [Bob] Stempel was laboring to undo the damage when GM's board forced him to fall on his sword after little more than two years on the job.1992 November 9, Paul A. Witteman, “Roger's Painful Legacy”, in Time, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2012
   • ‘There is no sympathy for her […]’ one Minister said. ‘She [Jacqui Smith] may just fall on her sword, or Gordon [Brown] might humiliate her with a demotion to something like the Department for International Development.2009 April 26, Glen Owen, Brendan Carlin, “Even Darling thinks his Budget doesn't add up as relations with Brown hit all-time low”, in Daily Mail, retrieved 02 May 2009
2. (idiomatic) To voluntarily take the blame for a situation.
   • The bemedaled Marine refused to fall on his sword and take full blame for the scandal.1987 July 20, Ed Magnuson, “The "Fall Guy" Fights Back”, in Time, archived from the original on 12 May 2008
   • Humility does not require you to fall on your sword.1996, Chip R. Bell, Managers as mentors: building partnerships for learning, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, →ISBN, page 81

   Synonyms:

   take the rap, take the fall

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To commit suicide by allowing one’s body to drop onto the point of one's sword.