Verb
(idiomatic, informal, sports, especially boxing) To willingly lose a match, as in a fixed fight.
(idiomatic, informal) To bear the blame or punishment for another person's failure or misdeed, either intentionally or not.
It was good of him to take the fall for you like that, I just wonder if he will come out of this one unscathed.
Bush does not want to go down in history as the president who lost in Iraq. His strategy to the extent he has one is to hang tough and let whoever succeeds him take the fall. Eleanor Clift