| 释义 |
ˈhand-me-down, n. and a. dial. and colloq.
[f. the verbal phr. to hand down (see hand v. 4 b).]
A. n. That which is handed down, as an heirloom, a second-hand garment, etc.; also, a ready-made garment.
B. adj. Having been handed down or passed on; = reach-me-down a. So hand-me-down shop, etc. Also fig.
1874Hotten Dict. Slang 187 Hand-me-downs, second⁓hand clothes. 1882G. W. Peck Peck's Sunshine 213 A hand bill for a Chicago hand-me-down clothing store. 1888New York World 5 Mar. (Farmer), A twelve-dollar suit of hand-me-downs. 1889Sporting Times 29 June (Farmer), Trousers..which all over proclaim themselves entitled to the epithet of hand-me-down. 1896Ade Artie xviii. 70 They'll be workin' for some Reub that come into town wearin' hand-me-downs. 1897Congress. Rec. 25 Mar. 274/1 These cheap-johns, ready-made, ‘hand-me-down’ statesmen. 1904Boston Herald 15 Oct. 2 He wears a cheap suit of ‘hand-me-down’ clothing. 1909Daily Chron. 2 July 7/4 He got it from a lady admirer..and he wanted me to 'ave it as a hand-me-down. 1914Joyce Dubliners 150 His little old father kept the hand-me-down shop in Mary's Lane. 1925S. Lewis Martin Arrowsmith viii. §2 A dirty old office, with hand-me-down chairs and a lot of second-hand magazines. 1935A. J. Cronin Stars look Down ii. xiii. 375 A little hand-me-down factory. 1954M. Mead Growing up in New Guinea 188 Their myths are dull hand-me-downs. 1960Economist 31 Dec. 1382/1 Many large corporations are still flying converted bombers and hand-me-down transports, but these are being supplemented by the newer, smaller light models. 1966New Yorker 5 Nov. 197 To dramatize this hand-me-down truth. |