hand down

verb

handed down; handing down; hands down

transitive verb

1

: to transmit in succession (as from father to son)

2

: to make official formulation of and express (the opinion of a court)

Examples of hand down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Grand jury handed down a four-count federal indictment Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted Mangione on four counts — murder through the use of a firearm, a firearms offense and two counts of stalking. —Juliana Kim, NPR, 25 Apr. 2025

Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, President Trump’s late sister, handed down Manna’s sentence in 1989. —John Annese, New York Daily News, 23 Apr. 2025

The court handed down its decision at a later hour than any other emergency application this term. —Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025

Shortly after midnight early Saturday morning, the Supreme Court handed down a brief order forbidding the Trump administration from removing a group of Venezuelan immigrants from the United States without due process. —Ian Millhiser, Vox, 19 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hand down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

Kids Definition

hand down

verb

1

: to pass down from older to younger (as from parent to child)

2

: to form and express a judicial decision

Legal Definition

hand down

transitive verb

1

: to deliver (the decision or opinion of an appellate court) to the proper office of an inferior court

2

: to make an official formulation of and announce (the decision of a court)