Meaning:
“顶” means “to substitute for” or “to carry on one’s shoulder,” and “包” is short for “包袱,” which means “burden.” A slang term used in Chinese for many years, it means “to act as a scapegoat for another person who is the real culprit.”
Example:
A: 听说小马撞了车之后找人顶包,被发现了。
Tīngshuō xiǎomǎ zhuàng le chē zhīhòu zhǎorén dǐngbāo, bèi fāxiàn le。
Have you heard that Xiaoma found a scapegoat for himself as the “driver” after crashing his car, but was found out?
B: 他喝酒了吗?为什么要找人顶包?
Tā hējiǔ le ma?Wèishénme yào zhǎorén dǐngbāo?
Was he drunk? Why was it necessary to find a scapegoat?
A: 因为他还没拿到驾照呢,车也是朋友借他的。
Yīnwèi tā hái méi nádào jiàzhào ne,chē yěshì péngyǒu jiè tā de。
Because he hasn’t got a driver’s license yet, and the car he crashed was borrowed from a friend.