See throw under the bus on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Attested from the early 1980s, possibly of UK origin.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "throws under the bus",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "throwing under the bus",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "threw under the bus",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "thrown under the bus",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "throw under a bus",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "<,,threw,thrown>"
},
"expansion": "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)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "fair-weather friend"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "hang out to dry"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "68 32",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "72 28",
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{
"_dis": "84 16",
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"_dis": "89 11",
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},
{
"_dis": "79 21",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "79 21",
"kind": "other",
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"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "77 23",
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},
{
"_dis": "76 24",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "81 19",
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}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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116,
140
]
],
"ref": "1993 January 27, Steven Cronin, “Sitter: Girl ‘Asked For It,’ Woman Told Her”, in Press of Atlantic City:",
"text": "\"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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
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7,
27
]
],
"ref": "2008 October 2, Brian Grow et al., “Dangerous Fakes”, in Business Week, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2009, retrieved 24 Mar 2009:",
"text": "\"I got thrown under the bus by BAE,\" she says. \"They did not want to take responsibility, so they pointed at us.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
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0,
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],
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105,
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131,
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149,
162
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],
"ref": "2013 May 24, Schlock Mercenary:",
"text": "Captain Tagon: So, all you did was serve us fast, before [chef] Ch'votlq could deploy his whisk of ruin?\nLiz: Please don't make me throw my new boss under the bus.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
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171,
194
]
],
"ref": "2022 April 21, Molly Jong-Fast, quoting JD Vance, “Trump’s Endorsements Might Be the GOP’s Kryptonite”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2025:",
"text": "[JD] Vance recently defended MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] for speaking at a white-nationalist conference, saying, “She said nothing wrong, and I’m absolutely not going to throw her under the bus, or anybody else who’s a friend of mine.”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
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112,
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],
"ref": "2023 October 27, Alexander Hurst, “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a disaster for the French left – his response to the attack on Israel proves it”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2023:",
"text": "If you want to know the deep values that drive someone, sometimes you have to look at who they admire, who they throw under the bus and who they refuse to unreservedly condemn.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"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."
],
"id": "en-throw_under_the_bus-en-verb-NoRxV3IQ",
"links": [
[
"betray",
"betray"
],
[
"blame",
"blame"
],
[
"leave to their fate",
"leave to one's fate"
],
[
"scapegoat",
"scapegoat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, of a person or group) 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."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of a person or group"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "sacrifice"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "sell down the river"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "throw to the wolves"
}
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "kaste under bussen"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "uhrata"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "betray",
"tags": [
"with-elative"
],
"word": "tehdä syntipukki"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "in die Pfanne hauen"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"lang_code": "nb",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "kaste under bussen"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "jogar embaixo do ônibus"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "poner a alguien a los pies de los caballos"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "echar la pelota"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "pasar la pelota"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "tirar dedo"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "achacar"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "echarle el perro muerto"
}
]
},
{
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{
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[
48,
67
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[
122,
141
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],
"ref": "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:",
"text": "A recent magazine article discussed the need to throw under the bus worn-out cultural catchphrases, with the first being “throw under the bus.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discard or disown."
],
"id": "en-throw_under_the_bus-en-verb-lY1wGQu-",
"links": [
[
"discard",
"discard"
],
[
"disown",
"disown"
]
],
"qualifier": "idea",
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, of a thing, idea, etc.) To discard or disown."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of a thing"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"sense": "discard or disown",
"word": "reject"
}
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"usually"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-throw under the bus.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7f/En-au-throw_under_the_bus.ogg/En-au-throw_under_the_bus.ogg.mp3",
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"word": "throw under the bus"
}
{
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"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Danish translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations"
],
"etymology_text": "Attested from the early 1980s, possibly of UK origin.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "throws under the bus",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "throwing under the bus",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "threw under the bus",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "thrown under the bus",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "throw under a bus",
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"alternative"
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"args": {
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},
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"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "fair-weather friend"
},
{
"word": "hang out to dry"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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140
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"ref": "1993 January 27, Steven Cronin, “Sitter: Girl ‘Asked For It,’ Woman Told Her”, in Press of Atlantic City:",
"text": "\"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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
7,
27
]
],
"ref": "2008 October 2, Brian Grow et al., “Dangerous Fakes”, in Business Week, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2009, retrieved 24 Mar 2009:",
"text": "\"I got thrown under the bus by BAE,\" she says. \"They did not want to take responsibility, so they pointed at us.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
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[
0,
13
],
[
105,
108
],
[
131,
136
],
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149,
162
]
],
"ref": "2013 May 24, Schlock Mercenary:",
"text": "Captain Tagon: So, all you did was serve us fast, before [chef] Ch'votlq could deploy his whisk of ruin?\nLiz: Please don't make me throw my new boss under the bus.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
171,
194
]
],
"ref": "2022 April 21, Molly Jong-Fast, quoting JD Vance, “Trump’s Endorsements Might Be the GOP’s Kryptonite”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2025:",
"text": "[JD] Vance recently defended MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] for speaking at a white-nationalist conference, saying, “She said nothing wrong, and I’m absolutely not going to throw her under the bus, or anybody else who’s a friend of mine.”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
112,
131
]
],
"ref": "2023 October 27, Alexander Hurst, “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a disaster for the French left – his response to the attack on Israel proves it”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2023:",
"text": "If you want to know the deep values that drive someone, sometimes you have to look at who they admire, who they throw under the bus and who they refuse to unreservedly condemn.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"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."
],
"links": [
[
"betray",
"betray"
],
[
"blame",
"blame"
],
[
"leave to their fate",
"leave to one's fate"
],
[
"scapegoat",
"scapegoat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, of a person or group) 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."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of a person or group"
],
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"transitive"
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"English transitive verbs"
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],
"ref": "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:",
"text": "A recent magazine article discussed the need to throw under the bus worn-out cultural catchphrases, with the first being “throw under the bus.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discard or disown."
],
"links": [
[
"discard",
"discard"
],
[
"disown",
"disown"
]
],
"qualifier": "idea",
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, of a thing, idea, etc.) To discard or disown."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of a thing"
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"usually"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-throw under the bus.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7f/En-au-throw_under_the_bus.ogg/En-au-throw_under_the_bus.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/En-au-throw_under_the_bus.ogg"
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"synonyms": [
{
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "sacrifice"
},
{
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "sell down the river"
},
{
"sense": "betray or blame, use as a scapegoat",
"word": "throw to the wolves"
},
{
"sense": "discard or disown",
"word": "reject"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "kaste under bussen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "uhrata"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "betray",
"tags": [
"with-elative"
],
"word": "tehdä syntipukki"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "in die Pfanne hauen"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"lang_code": "nb",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "kaste under bussen"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "jogar embaixo do ônibus"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "poner a alguien a los pies de los caballos"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "echar la pelota"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "pasar la pelota"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "tirar dedo"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "achacar"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "betray",
"word": "echarle el perro muerto"
}
],
"word": "throw under the bus"
}
Download raw JSONL data for throw under the bus meaning in All languages combined (6.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.