second hand
See also: second-hand and secondhand
English
Alternative forms
Adjective
second hand (not comparable)
- Alternative form of secondhand
Usage notes
- secondhand and second-hand may be preferred spellings for the adjective meaning "not new", to avoid confusion with the noun "second hand" referring to the hand of a clock or watch.
Related terms
Translations
secondhand — see secondhand
Noun
second hand (plural second hands)
- On a clock or watch, the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed.
- An intermediate person or means; intermediary.
- (Can we date this quote?), Walter Scott, editor, Memoirs of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin[1], page 135:
- “My Lord Oxford, by a second hand, proposed my being his chaplain, which I, by a second hand, excused.
- 1832, James Sheridan Knowles, The Magdalen, and other tales[2], page 3:
- Under certain circumstances there is always a danger in a young man's playing the benefactor towards the other sex, in his own person. A thousand times better do it by a second hand — engage the services of some kind aunt or female cousin.
Derived terms
Translations
the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed
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References
- “second hand”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.