Definition of Hand-me-down

1. Adjective. Passed on from one person to another. "Not too proud to wear hand-me-down clothes"

Exact synonyms: Hand-down
Similar to: Old

2. Noun. Outgrown garment passed down from one person to another.
Generic synonyms: Garment

Definition of Hand-me-down

1. Noun. An item that is passed along for someone else to use; ''especially,'' a piece of clothing or other item which has been outgrown by a older sibling and passed down to a younger one. ¹

2. Adjective. Used or second-hand, passed along by its prior user ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hand-me-down

hand-down
hand-eggs
hand-eye coordination
hand-foot-and-mouth disease
hand-foot-and-mouth disease virus
hand-held
hand-held computer
hand-held microcomputer
hand-hewn
hand-hold
hand-hole
hand-in-glove
hand-in-hand
hand-loomed
hand-made
hand-me-down (current term)
hand-me-downs
hand-off
hand-offs
hand-operated
hand-over
hand-pick
hand-picked
hand-puppet
hand-schueller-christian disease
hand-schueller-christian syndrome
hand-spring
hand-springs
hand-tight
hand-to-hand

Literary usage of Hand-me-down

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Glasgow, Past and Present: Illustrated in Dean of Guild Court Reports, and by James Pagan, Robert Reid, Aliquis, J. B. (1851)
"THE BRIDGEGATE—THE OLD CLOTHES, OR "hand-me-down" TRADE—TRIPE—FLOODS, &c. IN our notice of the proceedings before the Court on Thursday, 21st June, ..."

2. Sharps and Flats by Eugene Field (1900)
"ILL REQUITED OH, hand me down my spectacles, Oh, hand them down to me, ... Oh, hand me down my microscope; These specs ill serveth me: But I have hope the ..."

3. Black Ants And Buddhists: Thinking Critically And Teaching Differently in ...by Mary Cowhey by Mary Cowhey (2006)
"We usually wore hand-me-down clothes, and for special occasions, ... When bags of hand-me-down clothes arrived, we had fashion shows in the living room. ..."

4. The Writings in Prose and Verse of Eugene Field by Eugene Field, Roswell Martin Field, Horace (1911)
"ILL REQUITED OH, hand me down my spectacles, Oh, hand them down to me, ... Oh, hand me down my microscope; These specs ill serveth me: But I have hope the ..."

5. The British Drama: A Collection of the Most Esteemed Tragedies, Comedies (1859)
"Hand me down those fetters there. Lockit. Look ye, captain, we know what is fil- test for our prisoners. When a gentleman us« me with civility, ..."

6. The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine by Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew (1848)
"1 The first thing D'Alegre did was to hand me down the portmanteau and other things ; and having fortunately found a little mound high and dry above the ..."

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