wash one's hands of

== English == === 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. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌwɒʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌwɔʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌwɒʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z‿əv/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌwɔʃ wʌnz ˈhæn(d)z‿əv/ === Verb === wash one's hands (third-person singular simple present washes one's hands, present participle washing one's hands, simple past and past participle washed one's hands) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wash,‎ one's,‎ hands. (euphemistic) To go to the toilet. (figuratively) To absolve oneself of responsibility or future blame for; to refuse to have any further involvement with. [with of ‘something’] Synonyms: disclaim, disown; see also Thesaurus:repudiate ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== get one's hands dirty === References === === Further reading === hand washing – society and culture on Wikipedia.Wikipedia