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

The court has also handed down a 20-year prison sentence to a former soldier who denied taking part in extrajudicial killings. — ABC News, 9 July 2026

There’s not a generation of Lebanese professionals handing down a map. — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026

Even as the Supreme Court was handing down one legal thunderbolt after another last week, the justices were quietly releasing their annual financial reports. — Nina Totenberg, NPR, 8 July 2026

From five years handed down in March 2025, the ban was cut to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. — Sylvie Corbet, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

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)