hand-me-down

adjective

ˈhan(d)-mē-ˌdau̇n 

1

: put in use by one person or group after being used, discarded, or handed down by another

hand-me-down clothes

hand-me-down anecdotes

2

: ready-made and usually cheap and shoddy

hand-me-down noun

Examples of hand-me-down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The challenges go beyond just salaries, media attention and funding to things as serious as child care and the rash of ACL injuries in the women’s game and as frustrating as hand-me-down uniforms and locker rooms. — Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026

Secondhand stores are chock-full of items—some vintage, and some just hand-me-downs from the 2000s and the 2010s. — Sarah Lyon, The Spruce, 12 Aug. 2026

Tweets featuring antisemitic dog whistles are also blasted onto an enormous dashboard — hand-me-down technology formerly used by the Patriots during team practice to run plays. — Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 29 June 2026

The bone-chilling video looks like it's being shot in an actual environment, but Parsons created it with his hand-me-down laptop using Blender, a free graphics software. — Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 27 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hand-me-down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown

Kids Definition

hand-me-down

adjective

ˈhan(d)-mē-ˌdau̇n

: put in use by one person or group after being used, discarded, or handed down by another

hand-me-down noun