throw under the bus

Verb

throw under the bus (third-person singular simple present throws under the bus, present participle throwing under the bus, simple past threw under the bus, past participle thrown under the bus)

1. (transitive) To betray or blame (something or someone); to deliberately put (something or someone) in an unfavorable situation and then leave to their fate; to make (something or someone) into a scapegoat or otherwise abandon for personal gain.
   • "A person who does things for me and befriended me and helped me out when I needed help, I'm certainly not going to throw them under the bus," she said.1993 January 27, Steven Cronin, “Sitter: Girl ‘Asked For It,’ Woman Told Her”, in Press of Atlantic City
   • "I got thrown under the bus by BAE," she says. "They did not want to take responsibility, so they pointed at us."2008 October 2, Brian Grow et al., “Dangerous Fakes”, in Business Week, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2009, retrieved 24 Mar 2009

   Synonyms:

   sacrifice, sell down the river, throw to the wolves

2. (transitive, usually, idea) To discard or disown.
   • A recent magazine article discussed the need to throw under the bus worn-out cultural catchphrases, with the first being “throw under the bus.”2008 July 20, Ken Newton, “Local tiff is the new old thing”, in St. Joseph News-Press, US, archived from the original on 04 Dec 2008, retrieved 31 Aug 2021

   Synonyms:

   reject