Point the finger

“To point the finger” is an idiom that means to blame someone for a particular problem or (wrong) action. It means singling out an individual or group and giving that group responsibility for something bad that has happened. This phrase is often used when there is a desire to identify who is at fault for a specific situation or mistake.

Imagine a group of friends working on a project together. If the project encounters difficulties or fails, and one person starts blaming another for the problems, they are “pointing the finger” at that person.

They might actually raise a finger and point it, but not necessarily. The simple act of blaming a specific person for something that went wrong is “pointing the finger.”