get one's hands dirty

Meanings:

• 1.

  Generalliteralneutral
  • To soil or contaminate one's hands physically.

• 2.

  Generalidiomaticinformal
  • To become involved in the unpleasant, tedious, or manual aspects of a task or job.

• 3.

  Generalidiomaticinformal
  • To participate in morally dubious, unethical, or illegal activities in order to achieve a desired objective.