Meanings
present singular third person passes the buck · participle present passing the buck · participle past passed the buck · past passed the buck · alternative pass the book
- idiomaticinformalTo transfer responsibility or blame from oneself onto another; to absolve oneself of concern for a given matter by claiming to lack authority or jurisdiction.
He closes the foreword by acknowledging that his proposals would have far-reaching impacts on railway staff, communities and industry - and passes the buck onto government to ensure that these consequences are managed appropriately.
2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 441 more example
McLean was quoted in the Austin American Statesman as saying that although he had expected the guidelines to be ruled illegal, an attorney general's opinion […] was required in order to clarify the law. But critics say Bernstein and McLean simply passed the buck to the attorney general in order to placate the small group of fundamentalist Christians who had been lobbying them.
1990 February 4, David Morris, “Attorney General Sides With Texas Gay Groups”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 3
Origin
May have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buckhorn" or "buck", as the marker came to be called, to the next player.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan passar la pilota
- passar la pilotato transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Chinese Mandarin 推卸責任 /推卸责任, 推諉 /推诿
- 推卸責任 /推卸责任 (tuīxiè zérèn)to transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- 推諉 /推诿 (tuīwěi)to transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- 甩鍋 /甩锅 (shuǎiguō)to transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Danish sende aben videre
- sende aben videreto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Dutch zwartepieten
- zwartepietento transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Finnish pakoilla vastuuta
- pakoilla vastuutato transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
French renvoyer la balle
- renvoyer la balleto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
German die Verantwortung weiterreichen, die Verantwortung schieben
- die Verantwortung weiterreichento transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- die Verantwortung schiebento transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- die Schuld abschiebento transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Italian fare a scaricabarile
- fare a scaricabarileto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Māori whakarare, uapare
- whakarareto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- uapareto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Polish zwalać odpowiedzialność na innych, zwalić odpowiedzialność na innych
- zwalać odpowiedzialność na innychto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- zwalić odpowiedzialność na innychto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Russian сва́ливать отве́тственность
- сва́ливать отве́тственность (sválivatʹ otvétstvennostʹ)to transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Spanish pasar la bola
- pasar la bolato transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Vietnamese đổ trách nhiệm, chuồi trách nhiệm
- đổ trách nhiệmto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- chuồi trách nhiệmto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- đổ tộito transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- đổ lỗito transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
- đổ quanhto transfer responsibility or blame from oneself
Cite this entry
pass the buck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pass%20the%20buck
“pass the buck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pass%20the%20buck. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pass the buck,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pass%20the%20buck.
Source: pass the buck on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.