dirty one's hands

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, get one's hands dirty or soil one's hands . Do something shameful or illegal. For example, He refused to dirty his hands and give jobs to the big campaign donors , or Getting one's hands dirty by lying to the boss will be severely punished , or She would not soil her hands by cheating . This expression is a metaphor for literally defiling or soiling oneself. [Mid-1600s]

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April 23, 2024inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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