Meaning of fall on one's sword | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To resign from a job or other position of responsibility, especially when pressured to do so.
   broadly, idiomatic
2. To voluntarily take the blame for a situation.
   idiomatic
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To commit suicide by allowing one’s body to drop onto the point of one's sword.

Examples

“[Bob] Stempel was laboring to undo⟳ the damage⟳ when GM's board⟳ forced him to fall⟳ on his sword after little more than two years on the job.”

“‘There is no sympathy for her […]’ one Minister said. ‘She [Jacqui Smith] may just fall⟳ on her sword, or Gordon [Brown] might humiliate her with a demotion to something like⟳ the Department for International Development.”

“The minister fell on his sword after a day that began with senior Tories observing a deliberate silence over Hancock’s future – seemingly to test⟳ public opinion in their constituencies – before many later broke ranks to insist he had to go.”

“The bemedaled Marine refused to fall⟳ on his sword and take⟳ full blame⟳ for the scandal.”

“Humility does not require⟳ you to fall⟳ on your sword.”

“In written testimony given to Congress and made public the day before the hearing, Hurd falls on his sword, apologizing for HP's spying on its own⟳ directors and invading the privacy of journalists.”

CEFR level