hands down
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
'han(d)z-'daun
Etymology 1
The origin of this colloquialism seems to have its roots in mid-19th century horseracing. When a horse jockey is nearing the finish line far ahead of the competition, "with victory certain", he could drop his hands, relaxing his hold on the reins, and still win the race." By the late 19th century the phrase was being used in non-racing contexts to mean 'with no trouble at all.'"[1]
Adverb
hands down (comparative more hands down, superlative most hands down)
- (idiomatic) without much effort; easily
- (idiomatic) without question[2]
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hands, down.
Translations
without much effort, easily
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Etymology 2
See hand down
Verb
- third-person singular simple present indicative of hand down
References
- ^ The Word Detective, (Issue of January 15,2002)[1].
- ^ Hands down, Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.