not touch with a ten-foot pole
Stay far away from, avoid completely, as in Ronald wouldn't touch raw oysters with a ten-foot pole. This expression dates from the mid-1700s, when it began to replace the earlier not to be handled with a pair of tongs. In the 1800s barge-pole was sometimes substituted for ten-foot pole, but that variant has died out.
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What does “barren” mean?
Words nearby not touch with a ten-foot pole
Nottingham, sheriff of, Nottinghamshire, Nottm, not to be sneezed at, not to mention, not touch with a ten-foot pole, Nottoway, not to worry, Notts, not turn a hair, notturno
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.