carry water for

present singular third person carries water for · participle present carrying water for · participle past carried water for · past carried water for

1. idiomatictransitiveTo perform menial tasks for; to serve; to assist; to be forced by politics or pragmatism to endorse or promote a belief, individual, or organization that in reality one does not fully support.

   His job was to watch Stanton's back, not carry water for his ex-boss.

   2008, Ralph Reed, Dark Horse, page 229

   3 more examples

   Julie heard a woman's voice saying that she certainly was not going to carry water for any conceited bitches who thought themselves too good for ordinary....

   1967, Sarah Gainham, Night falls on the city, page 558

   For such a caring man she would carry water for the rest of her life: no man of her acquaintance would have done what Edward Cooper did, for a woman.

   2003, Barbara Ewing, The Trespass, page 329

   "We won't get another chance to talk, so tell me, deab: is Peter the man to carry water for me between the Israelis and the Palestinians, or should I find another horse for that plow?

   2006, Larry Bond with James DeFelice, First Team: Angels of Wrath, page 375