1
as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
the police officer ordered the suspect to hand over his weapons
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to provide
to put (something) into the possession of someone for use or consumption
in response to a desperate plea, we handed over all our extra blankets and pillows to the homeless shelter
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to hand
to put (something) into the possession or safekeeping of another
handed over their valuables to the desk clerk, who put them in the hotel safe
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in surrender
the usually forced yielding of one's person or possessions to the control of another
though the handover of my wallet was painful, it was better than getting shot by some trigger-happy punk
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hand over
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2026
Venezuela passed the 1943 Hydrocarbons Law, which forced foreign oil companies to hand over half of their oil profits, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 5 Jan. 2026
Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026
Under standard protocol, departing astronauts typically remain aboard the ISS for a few days after a crew arrives to help familiarize the new arrivals with the space station, which NASA refers to as a handover period.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hand over
Verb
According to court documents, Bressington first tried asking Reddit to hand over information about the users in the thread.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2026
Venezuela passed the 1943 Hydrocarbons Law, which forced foreign oil companies to hand over half of their oil profits, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 5 Jan. 2026
Noun
For many shoppers, this isn’t necessarily an absolute handover.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026
Under standard protocol, departing astronauts typically remain aboard the ISS for a few days after a crew arrives to help familiarize the new arrivals with the space station, which NASA refers to as a handover period.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hand over
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand over
Verb
-
But as anyone knows who’s ever lost — or even voluntarily relinquished — a foundational piece of themselves, to understand loss is not the same as to accept it.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
-
The president doubled down on his hostilities late Monday, criticizing Britain’s decision to relinquish control of the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago home to an Anglo-American military base.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
This two-story house provides a generous living space with its five bedrooms and four baths.—
Bay Area Home Report,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
-
When institutions offer ambiguous framing, populists provide clarity.—
Güney Yıldız,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Pedro said the city would serve as landlord for the time being but could eventually hand the duties off in the future.—
Stephen Hobbs,
Sacbee.com,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Senior generals, including Min Aung Hlaing, said at the time that new elections would be held and power handed to the winning party.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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That framing—control versus surrender—runs through Kapur’s entire philosophy.—
Rodger Dean Duncan,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
In September, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square hosted China’s biggest ever military parade to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The pill his team developed, YCT-529, works by blocking a vitamin-A-dependent protein essential for sperm growth, temporarily rendering men infertile without affecting their testosterone levels and thereby potentially introducing related side effects.—
Ana Castelain,
Bloomberg,
28 Jan. 2026
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Supporters of the pardon power further assured their colleagues that impeachment would furnish a corrective to any overuse of pardoning, underestimating the extent to which the modern party system would render this nearly impossible.—
Bernadette Meyler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Six movable struts give the cockpit full freedom of motion.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
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But Black art is always compared, shared and given a value.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Such vague commands, the court said, leave agents guessing how to respond during fast-moving protest situations and expose them to possible contempt sanctions.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Jan. 2026
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The auction house leaves behind its more cloistered Madison Avenue home for airy galleries in an 80-foot glass atrium, as well as an opulent neoclassical rotunda in the historic Steinway Hall.—
Jacqui Palumbo,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The submissions were also sent to prosecutor Daniel Porceddu, who didn't check their accuracy.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings.—
Gary Trust,
Billboard,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hand over.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand%20over. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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