What is "whipping boys"

Usage examples of "whipping boys".

Many young men of his class on the planet Crove used their serving-men as whipping boys.

Zarek had the misfortune of being one of their whipping boys and, unlike the others, he wasn't lucky enough to die.

When young princes misbehave, the whipping boys are flogged since the persons of royalty are sacrosanct.

Oh, people used you as whipping boys a lot, but I know what a tough job you all had.

In every class there were crack players who could hit flies sky-high and whipping boys who were encircled with hard leather balls and made into mincemeat.

None of it had been their fault, but ad agencies make lovely whipping boys.

Kids like that are just whipping boys, put on earth to suck up all the bad vibes and take the blame.

Along with the rest of the blabocracy, she slays all the standard media whipping boys and then demands that we pretend they were dragons.