wouldn't touch something/someone with a barge pole

not touch (someone or something) with a barge pole

To not want to become in any way involved in or with something or someone. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Ever since the tax scandal in our last company, employers won't touch us with a barge pole. Get that cocaine away from me, I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole!

See also: barge, not, pole, touch

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

wouldn't touch something/someone with a barge pole

BRITISH or

wouldn't touch something/someone with a ten-foot pole

AMERICAN

If you say that you wouldn't touch something or someone with a barge pole, you mean that you do not want to have anything to do with them. The history of the building kept the price down. No one would touch it with a barge pole. A woman like that wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole. Note: A barge pole is a very long pole that is used to move a barge (= a long, flat boat) forward.

See also: barge, pole, someone, something, touch

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012