whip the cat

verb6

1. •
   To blame someone for something that is not their fault.

   • In the end, meeting a mutual impasse, they adopt a policy of "whip the cat. " The farm labourer gets blamed for whatever goes wrong i.e. for everything. — 1982
2. •
   (Australia, New-Zealand) To regret; to feel self-pity

   • […] he will be whipping the cat he did not leave this line down to carry light traffic from the hills. — 1965
3. •
   To get drunk.

   • I knew him lads when first he shipped, And this is certain, that Though William by the 'cat' was whipped, He never 'whipped the cat'! — 1878
4. •
   To attempt to get work or money from someone who is too weak or poor to provide it.
5. •
   (dialect, old-fashioned) To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do.

   • The practice of "whipping the cat,” though gradually disappearing, is not altogether abandoned by the tailors in this district. — 1835
6. •
   (UK, no longer used) To practice extreme parsimony.

   • He kept school within six miles of Cooperstown, on the Burlington road, whipping the cat, just as young Munro did! — 1850