wash hands of

wash (one's) hands of (someone or something)

1. To absolve oneself of or distance oneself from responsibility for something. I don't want to be part of this scheme any more. I wash my hands of it.

2. To renounce, abandon, or distance oneself from someone or something. The director famously hated the final cut of the movie and has washed his hands of it, even going so far as to remove his name from the project. I'm afraid that if I tell my parents what I've done, they will wash their hands of me.

wash one's hands of someone or something

Fig. to end one's association with someone or something. (Fig. on the notion of getting rid of a problem by removing it as if it were dirt on the hands.) I washed my hands of Tom. I wanted no more to do with him. That car was a real headache. I washed my hands of it long ago.

wash (one's) hands of

1. To refuse to accept responsibility for: He washed his hands of the matter.

2. To abandon; renounce: They have washed their hands of him.