as in secondhand
owned or used by someone after it had been owned or used by someone else
—used especially of clothing
He was wearing an old, hand-me-down jacket.
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Recent Examples of hand-me-down
Kinsey Gidick, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2025
The Fight for Free Tampons in Schools Lands in Court
Image
Mr. Baker got his start in breeding with a gift of hand-me-down plants from two friends, Ken Frieling, a coleus breeder who died last May, and Mr. Frieling’s partner, Tom Winn, who died in 2013.
—Margaret Roach, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
As children they were accustomed to wearing hand-me-downs that carried the name of a previous owner.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 24 Mar. 2025
His plucky nickname—born from the ‘Loosey-goosey’ rhyme and shared with his father—is less of a hand-me-down and more of a savvy branding decision.
—Mike Dojc, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hand-me-down
Adjective
Patched pockets and hand-me-downs were a way of stretching the life of a garment.
—Kinsey Gidick, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2025
The Fight for Free Tampons in Schools Lands in Court
Image
Mr. Baker got his start in breeding with a gift of hand-me-down plants from two friends, Ken Frieling, a coleus breeder who died last May, and Mr. Frieling’s partner, Tom Winn, who died in 2013.
—Margaret Roach, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
As children they were accustomed to wearing hand-me-downs that carried the name of a previous owner.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 24 Mar. 2025
His plucky nickname—born from the ‘Loosey-goosey’ rhyme and shared with his father—is less of a hand-me-down and more of a savvy branding decision.
—Mike Dojc, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hand-me-down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-me-down
Adjective
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None of them smoked tobacco or had regular exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.—
Michael Nied,
People.com,
30 May 2025
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None of the 18- to 50-year-old people in the study were tobacco smokers or vapers, and all had little exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
28 May 2025
Noun
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Founded in 2021 by Rose Colcord, the brand was born from the desire to create practical, stylish, and comfortable organic cotton underwear while challenging fashion’s throwaway culture with soft cotton essentials .—
Kate Donnelly,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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The best bits are the throwaways, such as Craig dealing with an overfull mug of coffee during a work meeting.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2025
Noun
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In 2018, inspired by this culture of bricolage, curator Danni Friedman and designer Jean Lee gathered a group of designers in Havana for a ten-day workshop, turning them loose in an old shipyard factory filled with clay, concrete mix, scrap metal, and assorted junk.—
Glenn Adamson,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
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Wang Cong Closing out the UFC 316 early prelims is a women’s flyweight scrap between Ariane da Silva (17-10) and Wang Cong (7-1).—
Trent Reinsmith,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hand-me-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-me-down. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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