Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of
hand down . - adverb idiomatic without much
effort ;easily
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb with no difficulty
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
See hand down
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
The origin of this colloquialism seems to have its roots in mid-19th century horseracing. When a horse jockey is nearing the finish line far ahead of the competition, "with victory certain", he could drop his hands, relaxing his hold on the reins, and still win the race. "By the late 19th century the phrase was being used in non-racing contexts to mean 'with no trouble at all.'"
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