Meaning & use
hand-me-downs clothes
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Meanings
nounpluralinformal
Clothes that an older child or relative has worn and then passed on to someone younger or smaller.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun phrase; the singular form is "hand-me-down" and goes before a noun, as in "a hand-me-down coat."
Patterns
- wear hand-me-downs clothes
- hand-me-downs clothes from someone
- a bag of hand-me-downs clothes
My cousins in Ohio sent us two boxes of hand-me-downs clothes last spring.
As the youngest of four, she grew up wearing hand-me-downs clothes and never minded at all.
The charity shop sells hand-me-downs clothes for babies at very low prices.
nounpluralinformal
Things that are passed from one person to another after the first owner has finished with them, not only clothes.
Grammar: The plural noun can cover furniture, toys, phones and other used items, so the word "clothes" is not always needed.
Patterns
- hand-me-downs from someone
- give someone hand-me-downs
- a hand-me-down bicycle
His first bicycle was a hand-me-down from his older brother.
We furnished the flat with hand-me-downs from my parents' house.
She still uses a hand-me-down laptop from her office.
Word forms
| singular (before a noun) | hand-me-down |
|---|
Common combinations
- wear hand-me-downs
- He wore hand-me-downs until he was tall enough to buy his own jeans.
- hand-me-down clothes
- She packed only hand-me-down clothes for the summer camp.
- pass on hand-me-downs
- When the twins outgrew their coats, we passed the hand-me-downs to a neighbor.
- a box of hand-me-downs
- A box of hand-me-downs arrived on our doorstep on Saturday.
- hand-me-downs from a relative
- Most of his shoes were hand-me-downs from a relative in another city.
Synonyms and how they differ
- secondhand clothes
- Neutral and more general; it means clothes already owned by someone else, whether or not they came from family or friends.
- cast-offs
- Slightly negative and often suggests clothes the first owner rejected; "hand-me-downs" usually sounds warmer and more family-centered.
- pre-owned clothing
- A formal, sales-oriented term used in shops; it fits advertising better than everyday family talk.
Opposites
Word family
- hand down phrasal verb
- to give something you no longer need to a younger person or to someone with less money
- hand-me-down adjective
- used before a noun to describe an item passed on from an earlier owner
Commonly confused: hand-me-downs clothes or second-hand? hand-me-downs clothes or handout?
hand-me-downs clothes vs second-hand
"Second-hand" means previously owned by anyone and is neutral; "hand-me-downs" stresses that the item came from a family member or friend, usually an older one.
hand-me-downs clothes vs handout
A handout is money, food or paper given as charity or in class; it is not clothing passed between family members.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase most naturally?
Choose one answer.
"Hand-me-downs clothes" works as a plural phrase after a verb like "wore," so option B fits. Option A fails because "a" cannot go with a plural phrase, C has a plural subject with a singular verb, and D wrongly uses "a" before the plural form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hand-me-downs clothes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.