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Glite Dictionary
to lie squarely with

to lie squarely with

1 7.5
Be clearly the responsibility of a person or group
  • phrasal verb
  • Formal
translation icon : recaer firmemente en
  • The blame lies squarely with the top management of the organization.
  • blame lies squarely with

Examples

  • The responsibility for fiscal policy lies squarely with the Administration and the Congress.

    Blog text (2)

  • The responsibility for fiscal policy lies squarely with the Administration and the Congress.

  • The chances of Bo losing this election lay squarely with the Christian vote.

    Blog text (15)

  • The blame for this country's economic mess lies squarely with the two political parties.

    Blog text (1)

  • For in the final analysis, the quality of a school is measured by the quality of its students, their ambition for success, and their contributions to society; and the responsibility for preparing those students lies squarely with their teachers.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The blame lies squarely with the top management of the organization.

  • The blame for this country's economic mess lies squarely with the two political parties.

Synonyms

to lay at the feet of
vsto lie squarely with
1 8.1

To say someone caused or deserves credit for something

focuses on responsibility or blame rather than credit
to lie at someone's door
vsto lie squarely with
7.8

To be someone's fault or responsibility

rests with firm certainty rather than merely being ascribed

Antonyms

to wash one's hands
  • Informal
3 6.3

Refuse to take the blame for a problem

How Responsible

solely
241 4.0
to lie squarely with
  • Formal
1 7.5
to rest
256 5.9
to fall
152 5.8

Surface Forms

lie squarely with infinitive
lying squarely with present participle
lies squarely with third person singular
lay squarely with past
lain squarely with past participle

Morphology

lie + squarely + with

The sense 'to rest firmly with someone' is directly compositional: 'lie' (to rest or be located) + 'with' (indicating the person who has it) yields 'responsibility rests with X', and 'squarely' simply intensifies 'firmly/unequivocally'. This construction follows common English patterns (and has clear parallels in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to derive the meaning.

Etymology

Lie squarely with uses a clear image: something heavy that lies directly on a person and stays squarely in place, not moving to others. So, the phrase means that 'responsibility' or 'blame' rests firmly and clearly with that person.