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clean hands, have

clean hands, have idiom

Be innocent or guiltless, as in John's got clean hands; he had nothing to do with it. It is sometimes worded as one's hands are clean, meaning “one has done nothing wrong,” as in Don't look at me—my hands are clean. This metaphor for freedom from wrongdoing dates back to at least 1600.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.