sully

He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.

She tried to sully her rival’s reputation with a suggestive comment.

[G]old bears the fire, which ſilver doth not: but that is an excellency in nature, but it is nothing at all in uſe; for any dignity in uſe I know none, but that ſilvering will ſully and canker more than gilding; […]