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Glite Dictionary
👕 A used item 👕 Passed-on
hand-me-down

hand-me-down

1 4.0
Describing clothing or objects that have been used and are given to someone else
  • adjective
  • /ˈhændmiˌdaʊn/
translation icon : heredado
  • She wore a hand-me-down dress that her sister had outgrown.

Examples

  • It's a hand-me-down

    Wild (2014)

  • Their family often shares hand-me-down clothes between the siblings.

  • I received a hand-me-down jacket from my older brother after he moved away.

Synonyms

hand-down
vshand-me-down
4.1

Owned before and then given or sold to another person

is mainly used for previously worn clothing rather than any used item
preloved item
vshand-me-down
  • UK
4.1

An object someone owned before and now sells to others

is passed between people after use, not primarily sold

Antonyms

new
∞ 1.0

In original condition and never used before

How Used

worn
4 2.1
hand-me-down
1 4.0
used
1.0
brand-new
321 1.2

Surface Forms

hand-me-down positive

Morphology

hand-me-down = hand + me (transparent) = down + hand + me

The adjectival use is directly derived from the compound noun/verb phrase and keeps the literal sense of being passed on. [Postprocessing: moved 'down' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The adjective hand-me-down shows the same idea: it joins hand ('by hand') and down ('to someone else') to mean an item that was used before and then passed on. That's why a hand-me-down dress or toy is one that belonged to someone else first.