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To get involved with the unpleasant parts of a task, such as manual labor or unethical activities.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Examples
- If you expect to seal up every possible source of draftiness, you'll have to get your hands dirty — there will be some kneeling and crawling involved.
- He doesn't get his hands dirty — that's what the henchmen and the plausible deniability are for.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
No etymology was provided for this word.
Across languages
Translations
11 source translations are retained for this English entry.
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Finnish:
liata kätensä
— Translations
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French:
se salir les mains
— Translations
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French:
faire le sale boulot
— Translations
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French:
mettre les mains dans le cambouis
— Translations
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French:
aller au charbon
— Translations
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German:
sich die Hände schmutzig machen
— Translations
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German:
sich die Finger schmutzig machen
— Translations
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Polish:
brudzić sobie ręce
— Translations
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Polish:
ubrudzić sobie ręce
— Translations
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Spanish:
ensuciarse las manos
— Translations
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Spanish:
no caérsele los anillos
— Translations
