pass the buck

Verb

Plain form pass the buck

Third-person singular passes the buck

Past tense passed the buck

Past participle passed the buck

Present participle passing the buck

1. (informal) If you pass the buck you give a job or responsibility that should be yours to someone else. This often means that a job is passed around so no one really does it.

   Politicians are infamous for passing the buck amongst each other, using others as scapegoats.

Related words and phrases

• buck
• pass

See also

• the buck stops here