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Glite Dictionary
to lie at someone's door

to lie at someone's door

7.8
To be someone's fault or responsibility
  • idiom
translation icon : recaer en alguien
  • Responsibility for the failure must lie at their door as they made the key decisions.

Examples

  • We can't let all the blame lie at her door when others were involved.

  • The blame will lie at her door if the project fails.

  • The committee decided the error should lie at John's door rather than the team's.

  • Don't let the failure lie at his door alone.

  • The loss of funding for the project lies at the government's door, as they failed to allocate the necessary resources.

  • If the event is poorly organized, the criticism will lie at her door, since she was in charge of the arrangements.

  • Many believe that the failure of the policy lies at the previous administration's door, which did not take the necessary steps.

Synonyms

to lie squarely with
vsto lie at someone's door
  • Formal
1 7.5

Be clearly the responsibility of a person or group

is the general idea of fault without stressing absolute certainty
to lay the blame at the feet of (someone)
vsto lie at someone's door
1 6.9

To say someone caused a problem or is at fault

is about being responsible or at fault rather than the act of blaming

Antonyms

blameless
18 3.6

Not guilty of any wrong

How Responsible

to lie at someone's door
7.8
at fault
62 3.4
blameless
18 3.6

Surface Forms

lie at someone's door infinitive
lying at someone's door present participle
lies at someone's door third person singular
lay at someone's door past
lain at someone's door past participle

Morphology

lie + at + someone's + door

The phrase uses a locative sense of 'lie' (to be located) plus 'at someone's door' (a possessive locative), so the meaning is a metaphorical extension: blame or responsibility is 'located' with a person. This spatial-to-abstract mapping is somewhat transparent for learners who know the words, but the specific sense of 'responsibility/blame' is metaphorical and may not be fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Lie at someone's door may come from the image of a problem or item left at a person's door, where it lies there waiting for them to deal with. So when something 'lies at someone's door' today, it means it is their 'responsibility' or 'fault'.