Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Handed down to one person after being used and discarded by another.
- adjective Of inferior quality; shabby.
- noun Something, such as an article of clothing, that is passed on from one person to another.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Same as
reach-me-down .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obtained or used after prior use by another person.
- noun An outgrown garment given to one person after use by another; -- usually transferred between members of a family or close friends.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An item that is passed along for someone else to use; especially, a piece of
clothing or other item which has beenoutgrown by a oldersibling and passed down to a younger one. - adjective Used or second-hand, passed along by its prior user
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective passed on from one person to another
- noun outgrown garment passed down from one person to another
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Such fiction may otherwise seem "standard" in its use of all of the hand-me-down practices of traditional narrative, but it's still full of "finely wrought prose, vivid characters, delectable details," as Shriver puts it a few paragraph later.
Book Reviewing 2010
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"I think a lot of grooms are going to be digging around in their mothers' jewelry boxes for hand-me-down rings," says Carley Romey, editor in chief of weddings website TheKnot.
6 Smart Wedding Tips From William and Kate Brett Arends 2011
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The idea of deserving versus underserving poor is a hand-me-down from the Protestant/English work ethic that has a long history of ignoring the poorest and denigrating them to squalor.
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Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies ...
The Uniform Project The Nag 2009
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When a kid gets a pair of Nike sneakers that are new rather than somebody's hand-me-down, that to them is like they've reached nirvana.
A Baby Shower for Moms in Need Melanie Grayce West 2011
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And Kim had me come right over to her house so she could load me up with all of these hand-me-down baby clothes that had belonged to her kids.
Teed Off Sherrie Daly 2011
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It was back to using my four-fingered, hand-me-down glove.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad Jack Canfield 2011
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Dannel Malloy travels usually via a state-owned Lincoln Mercury, a hand-me-down from his predecessor, M.
Fast-Tracking Governors Lisa Fleisher 2011
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One of the things—what used to be a black teenager in a dirty Allen Iverson 76ers jersey and a pair of hand-me-down Jordans—feeds on a fake-tanned white guy in a slick black convertible.
Can You Survive The Zombie Apocalypse? Max Brallier 2011
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But unlike used mitts and bats, you can't exactly pass off a broken board or pair of tattered, hole-ridden shoes as a hand-me-down; even the Goodwill and Play It Again Sports have standards.
Kevin Duffel: Skateboarders Going Green Kevin Duffel 2011
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