From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsit on your handssit on your handsto delay taking action when you should do something Workers are losing their jobs while the government sits on its hands and does nothing. → sit
Examples from the Corpus
sit on your hands• So we sat on our hands about Sally, because we thought the stakes were higher than the National Enquirer.• Most delegates sat on their hands while a few radicals took control of the discussion. 