as in victims
a person or thing taking the blame for others
an unhappy childhood was the goat he used to rationalize every failure and shortcoming
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Recent Examples of goats
Outside the Jeoffry section, the poem celebrates goats, wine, the King of Sardinia, the Postmaster General, and on and unpredictably on, compiling one of the more eccentric inventories of creation.
—
Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Ackerman Family Farms opens to the public every festival season, offering baby goats for petting and decorative pumpkins for purchase.
—Katherine Laidlaw, HubSpot, 5 Sep. 2025
Earlier goats, like Clay Henry II and III, were notorious for drinking beer straight from the bottle, often Shiner Bock or Lone Star.
—Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2025
Now, instead of goats, the neighbors might have to deal with the sounds of constructing nine houses.
—Clio Chang, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025
And on the note of industry goats, Sir John also worked with Charlotte Tilbury which led to his work with Beyoncé, Julianne Moore, and more.
—Akili King, Essence, 27 Aug. 2025
Its medieval houses nestle beneath colossal rocks, their red roofs peeking out like terracotta petals—while narrow lanes wind past the Chapel of São Pedro de Vir-a-Corça and the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria, and scrambling goats graze near crumbling stairways.
—Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Beyond the shore, rent a Mehari to explore the island's lush interior, where goats roam the mountainside.
—Nicky Swallow, Travel + Leisure, 19 Aug. 2025
Students planning to go into one of the two big industries in town can graduate with a data center technician certificate or raise their own pigs and goats to sell at the fair.
—Monica Nickelsburg, NPR, 17 Aug. 2025
Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Ackerman Family Farms opens to the public every festival season, offering baby goats for petting and decorative pumpkins for purchase.
—Katherine Laidlaw, HubSpot, 5 Sep. 2025
Earlier goats, like Clay Henry II and III, were notorious for drinking beer straight from the bottle, often Shiner Bock or Lone Star.
—Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2025
Now, instead of goats, the neighbors might have to deal with the sounds of constructing nine houses.
—Clio Chang, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025
And on the note of industry goats, Sir John also worked with Charlotte Tilbury which led to his work with Beyoncé, Julianne Moore, and more.
—Akili King, Essence, 27 Aug. 2025
Its medieval houses nestle beneath colossal rocks, their red roofs peeking out like terracotta petals—while narrow lanes wind past the Chapel of São Pedro de Vir-a-Corça and the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria, and scrambling goats graze near crumbling stairways.
—Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Beyond the shore, rent a Mehari to explore the island's lush interior, where goats roam the mountainside.
—Nicky Swallow, Travel + Leisure, 19 Aug. 2025
Students planning to go into one of the two big industries in town can graduate with a data center technician certificate or raise their own pigs and goats to sell at the fair.
—Monica Nickelsburg, NPR, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goats
Noun
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The victims said the thief stole close to $60,000 in cash and dozens of checks that were inside the box.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
9 Sep. 2025
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And none of those figures includes losses victims were too embarrassed to report.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The hypocrisy of a society continually looking for scapegoats to assign blame while refusing to examine its own dark heart provides a semblance of subtext.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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That drug is known to metabolize into the identical psych profile an anabolic steroid will produce … Not making excuses or asking for a pass, just putting it out there as a detail that may have been confused with a laundry list of other potential suspects.—
Erin Jensen,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
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The 2025 Wi-Fi Extender turns every corner of your house into usable internet, no excuses.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The trip then took the monkeys to Dallas and finally to Nebraska with the help of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Wildlife Confiscations Network.—
TJ Macias,
Kansas City Star,
8 Sep. 2025
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Casati Stampa di Soncino inhabited Peggy Guggenheim’s former home Palazzo Venier dei Leoni and infused Venice with 1920s glamour, wild parties with big band music and monkeys and filled it with famous guests like her lover, poet Gabriele D’Annunzio and visual artist Man Ray.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Goats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goats. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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