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)

  1. (idiomatic) without much effort; easily
  2. (idiomatic) without question[2]
  3. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see hands,‎ down.
Translations

Etymology 2

See hand down

Verb

hands down

  1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of hand down

References
  1. The Word Detective, (Issue of January 15,2002).
  2. Hands down, Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.
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