wash one's hands of
English
Etymology
From The Bible's account of Pontius Pilate washing his hands and refusing to condemn Jesus. Matthew Ch.27:24.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
wash one's hands of (third-person singular simple present washes one's hands of, present participle washing one's hands of, simple past and past participle washed one's hands of)
- (idiomatic) To absolve oneself of responsibility or future blame for; to refuse to have any further involvement with.
- Synonyms: disown, disclaim, repudiate; see also Thesaurus:repudiate
- 1884, H. Rider Haggard, Dawn, ch. 51:
- It was no affair of his; he had long ago washed his hands of the whole matter.
- 1916, Rex Ellingwood Beach, Rainbow's End, ch. 20:
- Although Norine had pretended to wash her hands of all responsibility for Branch's little charge, she was by no means so inhuman as she appeared.
- 1936 June 8, "National Affairs: Ditch Up, Dam Down," Time:
- [A]fter Congress had refused to appropriate money to continue them, President Roosevelt washed his hands of the two ventures.
- 2003 March 13, "Immigration: Vermont Refugee Aid Group Says Policy Thins Resources," New York Times (retrieved 27 July 2011):
- Janet Dench, the executive director of the Canadian Council for refugees, said that both countries are “washing their hands” of the problem.
Translations
absolve oneself of responsibility
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References
- “wash one's hands of”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.