lie at someone's door
To be the fault or responsibility of someone.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The mistake lies at your door.”
“The broken window lies at his door because he was playing with the ball.”
“The delay lies at my door since I forgot to send the email.”
“The project failed, and the manager knew the blame lay at his door because he ignored the warnings.”
“If the team loses the game because you forgot to bring the equipment, the defeat will lie at your door.”
“The company's poor reputation lies at the door of the marketing department for releasing such an offensive advertisement.”
“Although the whole group worked on the presentation, the errors in the final data lie at her door.”
“While the committee searched for a scapegoat, the public remained convinced that the ultimate responsibility for the disaster lay at the door of the director.”
The idiom is a comparative form of the expression to lay at someone's door. It refers to the attribution of responsibility or blame, existing as a linguistic relative to the active phrasing without recorded historical anecdotes or specific named originators in the available accounts.
- 01
another nail in someone's coffin
An event that increases the likelihood of or causes further failure.
- 02
answer someone's prayers
To be or do exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.
- 03
answer to someone's prayers
Exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.
- 04
apple of someone's eye
The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.
- 05
bane of someone's existence
Someone or something that poses a significant problem to someone.
- 06
bang down the door
To present oneself as a strong candidate for a role or achievement, explicitly or implicitly.
- 07
bash someone's face in
To beat someone violently.
- 08
bash someone's head
To beat up someone violently.
Last updated August 10, 2026