throw under the bus

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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. (idiomatic, transitive, of a person or group) To betray or blame (something or someone), as a scapegoat or otherwise for personal gain.
   • 1993 January 27, Steven Cronin, “Sitter: Girl ‘Asked For It,’ Woman Told Her”, in Press of Atlantic City:

     "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.

   • 2008 October 2, Brian Grow; et al, “Dangerous Fakes”, in Business Week, retrieved 24 Mar. 2009:

     "I got thrown under the bus by BAE," she says. "They did not want to take responsibility, so they pointed at us."

   • May 24, 2013' - Schlock Mercenary:

     Captain Tagon: So, all you did was serve us fast, before [chef] Ch'votlq could deploy his whisk of ruin?
     Liz: Please don't make me throw my new boss under the bus.

2. (idiomatic, transitive, of a thing, idea, etc.) To discard or disown.
   • 2008 July 20, Ken Newton, “Local tiff is the new old thing”, in St. Joseph News-Press, US, retrieved 31 Aug. 2021:

     A recent magazine article discussed the need to throw under the bus worn-out cultural catchphrases, with the first being “throw under the bus.”

• (betray or blame, use as a scapegoat): sacrifice, sell down the river, throw to the wolves
• (discard or disown): reject

• fair-weather friend
• hang out to dry