press the flesh

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press the flesh (third-person singular simple present presses the flesh, present participle pressing the flesh, simple past and past participle pressed the flesh)

1. (idiomatic) To shake hands and socialize, especially in a political gathering.
   • 2008 January 23, “The Clintons Double-Team Obama”, in Time:

     Bill Clinton was in full campaign form Tuesday. Hours behind schedule, he stopped to press the flesh with everyone in sight.

   • 2021, Eric Garcia, We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation, Boston: Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 28:

     I’ve followed candidates campaigning in the past, been to countless political-party and interest-group functions, and seen plenty of politicians press the flesh while I stand on the side with my notepad or sit at a rickety table with my laptop.

• “press the flesh”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.