Other forms: hand-me-downs
A hand-me-down is a garment passed on from an older child. Wear hand-me-downs.
Children outgrow clothes long before they wear them out, which is what makes it work. A hand-me-down carries a family history that a new coat cannot.
1nounhand-me-downA garment passed on from an older child.
“Everything he wore until he was six was a hand-me-down.”
hand-me-down is a garment.
From the phrase hand down, with me inserted, which is why it has three parts.
See hand down and me.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Clothes & Fashion, Babies & Growing Up