I. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ adjective
1. of clothing : ready-made and usually cheap and shoddy
cheap store clothes of the hand-me-down variety for export to the Southwest — Dixon Wecter
2.
a. : put in use by one person or group after being already used and discarded by another : secondhand
not just any old hand-me-down philosophy of education — Atlantic
b. : already having been worn or used and discarded by another (as an older brother)
wearing their older sisters' hand-me-down evening dresses — Peter Taylor
II. noun
( -s )
: something that is hand-me-down
the terms … are hand-me-downs from former generations of businessmen — W.H.Whyte
are our diet beliefs more hand-me-downs from the previous generation — C.R.Stackhouse
especially : a hand-me-down garment or suit
uniforms … had the unmistakable fit of hand-me-downs — Hamilton Basso
wore hand-me-downs until he was 16 and then was allowed to buy himself a new suit