HAND-ME-DOWN Definition & Meaning

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hand-me-down

[ hand-mee-doun, han- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an article of clothing passed on to another person after being used, outgrown, etc.:
The younger children wore the hand-me-downs of the older ones.
any item not new that is or can be used again:
Our office furniture was a collection of hand-me-downs.

adjective

passed along for further use by others:
some hand-me-down clothes from my older brother.
borrowed or adapted from other sources; derivative:
a street full of hand-me-down architecture.

hand-me-down

noun

1. something, esp an outgrown garment, passed down from one person to another
2. ( as modifier )
  a hand-me-down dress
1. anything that has already been used by another
2. ( as modifier )
  hand-me-down ideas

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of hand-me-down¹

First recorded in 1870–75

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

I grew up wearing my older brother’s and older sister’s hand-me-down clothes.

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Her queen-size bed is a hand-me-down from a friend.

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Expensive cars and designer clothes weren’t an option; when he learned to drive he was pushing the family’s hand-me-down Acura.

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Yet budget is also a factor; teen drivers often end up with a hand-me-down vehicle or a used vehicle.

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The warehouse has also seen fewer of the startups that used to buy a lot of the city’s hand-me-down office furniture, perhaps due to the current economic uncertainty.

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