hand down
verb
handed down; handing down; hands down
1
: to transmit in succession (as from father to son)
2
: to make official formulation of and express (the opinion of a court)
Examples of hand down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Major League Baseball handed down four suspensions Thursday in the aftermath of Tuesday night's benches-clearing brawl between the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
—
Alejandro Avila Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 July 2026
The Supreme Court handed down a decision in April that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act meant to remedy efforts to disenfranchise minority voters.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
Google’s market position, however, remains firmly in place despite creating similar ballot screens on Android when the ruling was first handed down.
—
Ryan Whitwam,
ArsTechnica,
2 July 2026
The workweek Americans later came to treat as normal was not handed down by nature.
—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for hand down
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Alejandro Avila Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 July 2026
The Supreme Court handed down a decision in April that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act meant to remedy efforts to disenfranchise minority voters.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
Google’s market position, however, remains firmly in place despite creating similar ballot screens on Android when the ruling was first handed down.
—
Ryan Whitwam,
ArsTechnica,
2 July 2026
The workweek Americans later came to treat as normal was not handed down by nature.
—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for hand down
Cite this Entry
“Hand down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand%20down. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
