soil one's hands

soil one's hands
get one's hands dirty & dirty one's hands & soil one's hands
1. Fig. to get closely involved in a difficult task. •

You have to get your hands dirty if you expect to get the gutters cleaned out.

2. Fig. to become involved with something illegal; to do a shameful thing; to do something that is beneath one. •

The mayor would never get his hands dirty by giving away political favors.

I will not dirty my hands by breaking the law.

* * *
See: DIRTY ONE'S HANDS.

Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • soil one's hands — See: DIRTY ONE S HANDS …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • soil\ one's\ hands — • dirty one s hands • soil one s hands v. phr. To lower or hurt one s character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. The teacher warned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination. I would not soil my hands by going… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • soil one's hands with — get one s hands dirty, humiliate oneself …   English contemporary dictionary

  • dirty one's hands — or[soil one s hands] {v. phr.} To lower or hurt one s character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. * /The teacher warned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination./ * /I would not soil my hands by going with bad… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • dirty one's hands — or[soil one s hands] {v. phr.} To lower or hurt one s character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. * /The teacher warned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination./ * /I would not soil my hands by going with bad… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • dirty\ one's\ hands — • dirty one s hands • soil one s hands v. phr. To lower or hurt one s character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. The teacher warned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination. I would not soil my hands by going… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • soil — soil1 soilless, adj. /soyl/, n. 1. the portion of the earth s surface consisting of disintegrated rock and humus. 2. a particular kind of earth: sandy soil. 3. the ground as producing vegetation or as cultivated for its crops: fertile soil. 4. a… …   Universalium

  • soil — 01. You need to turn the [soil] at the base of the plant once in a while to keep it from getting too hard packed. 02. The old man had trouble controlling himself, and often [soiled] his pants. 03. The [soil] at the mouth of a river is usually… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • soil — [[t]sɔ͟ɪl[/t]] ♦♦♦ soils, soiling, soiled 1) N MASS Soil is the substance on the surface of the earth in which plants grow. We have the most fertile soil in Europe. ...regions with sandy soils. 2) N UNCOUNT: with supp You can use soil in… …   English dictionary

  • One-China policy — The One China policy (simplified Chinese: 一个中国; traditional Chinese: 一個中國 政策 ; pinyin: yī gè Zhōngguó) refers to the policy or view that there is only one state called China , despite the existence of two governments that claim to be China …   Wikipedia

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