wash one's hands

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wash, one's, hands.
To go to the toilet.
To absolve oneself of responsibility or future blame for; to refuse to have any further involvement with.

Pronunciation

/ˌwɒʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z/ /ˌwɔʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z/ En-au-wash one's hands.ogg /ˌwɒʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z‿əv/ /ˌwɔʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z‿əv/ En-au-wash one's hands of.ogg

Word forms

wash one's hands washes one's hands washing one's hands washed one's hands

Etymology

The figurative sense comes from the account in Matthew 27:24 of the Bible in which Pontius Pilate, unwilling to condemn Jesus who has committed no crime but whose crucifixion the crowd has called for, symbolically washes his hands in public and says (according to the King James Version; spelling modernized): “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.” Another literal and figurative usage of the expression can be traced to Deuteronomy 21:6 where the elders of Israel are commanded to "wash their hands" as part of a ceremonial absolution ritual initiated upon the discovery of a corpse outside the jurisdiction of any city.

Synonyms

disclaim disown abjure deny disavow forsay forswear renounce repudiate wash one's hands of

Related words

get one's hands dirty

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