"hands down" meaning in English

See hands down in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: en-au-hands down.ogg [Australia] Forms: more hands down [comparative], most hands down [superlative]
Etymology: 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.' Head templates: {{en-adv}} hands down (comparative more hands down, superlative most hands down)
  1. (idiomatic) without much effort; easily Tags: idiomatic Translations (without much effort, easily): بِسُهُولَة (bisuhūla) (Arabic), met losse handen (Dutch), met gemak (Dutch), moeiteloos (Dutch), helposti (Finnish), les doigts dans le nez (French), haut la main (French), leichthin (German), mühelos (German), spielend (German), locker (German), mit Leichtigkeit (German), mit Links (German), αβρόχοις ποσίν (avróchois posín) (Greek), ad occhi chiusi (Italian), com uma mão nas costas [Brazil] (Portuguese), com uma perna às costas [Portugal] (Portuguese), fără efort (Romanian), cu ușurință (Romanian)
    Sense id: en-hands_down-en-adv-yqHogLnY Disambiguation of 'without much effort, easily': 85 1 13 1
  2. (idiomatic) by a large margin (in a game or contest) Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-hands_down-en-adv-zGzWcm6N
  3. (idiomatic) without question; undoubtedly Tags: idiomatic Translations (without question): keine Frage (German), ganz ohne Zweifel (German), senza dubbio (Italian), bez dwóch zdań (Polish)
    Sense id: en-hands_down-en-adv-aS~jU4Z3 Disambiguation of 'without question': 17 0 82 1
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hands, down.
    Sense id: en-hands_down-en-adv-oVGq0-eu
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb

Audio: en-au-hands down.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: See hand down Head templates: {{head|en|verb form}} hands down
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of hand down Tags: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person Form of: hand down
    Sense id: en-hands_down-en-verb-FG~I6d8f Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 4 3 30 2 61
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Download JSON data for hands down meaning in English (5.9kB)

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "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.'",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more hands down",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hands down",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hands down (comparative more hands down, superlative most hands down)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "without much effort; easily"
      ],
      "id": "en-hands_down-en-adv-yqHogLnY",
      "links": [
        [
          "effort",
          "effort"
        ],
        [
          "easily",
          "easily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) without much effort; easily"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "bisuhūla",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "بِسُهُولَة"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "met losse handen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "met gemak"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "moeiteloos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "helposti"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "les doigts dans le nez"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "haut la main"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "leichthin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "mühelos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "spielend"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "locker"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "mit Leichtigkeit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "mit Links"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "avróchois posín",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "αβρόχοις ποσίν"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "ad occhi chiusi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "tags": [
            "Brazil"
          ],
          "word": "com uma mão nas costas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "tags": [
            "Portugal"
          ],
          "word": "com uma perna às costas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "fără efort"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 1 13 1",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "without much effort, easily",
          "word": "cu ușurință"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "by a large margin (in a game or contest)"
      ],
      "id": "en-hands_down-en-adv-zGzWcm6N",
      "links": [
        [
          "large",
          "large"
        ],
        [
          "margin",
          "margin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) by a large margin (in a game or contest)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "That is a rather difficult task, hands down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "without question; undoubtedly"
      ],
      "id": "en-hands_down-en-adv-aS~jU4Z3",
      "links": [
        [
          "question",
          "question"
        ],
        [
          "undoubtedly",
          "undoubtedly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) without question; undoubtedly"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "17 0 82 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without question",
          "word": "keine Frage"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 0 82 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "without question",
          "word": "ganz ohne Zweifel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 0 82 1",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "without question",
          "word": "senza dubbio"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 0 82 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "without question",
          "word": "bez dwóch zdań"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hands, down."
      ],
      "id": "en-hands_down-en-adv-oVGq0-eu",
      "links": [
        [
          "hands",
          "hands#English"
        ],
        [
          "down",
          "down#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hands down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg/En-au-hands_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hands down"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "See hand down",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "hands down",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "4 3 30 2 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "hand down"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "third-person singular simple present indicative of hand down"
      ],
      "id": "en-hands_down-en-verb-FG~I6d8f",
      "links": [
        [
          "hand down",
          "hand down#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "indicative",
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hands down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg/En-au-hands_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hands down"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verb forms"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "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.'",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more hands down",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hands down",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hands down (comparative more hands down, superlative most hands down)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "without much effort; easily"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "effort",
          "effort"
        ],
        [
          "easily",
          "easily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) without much effort; easily"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "by a large margin (in a game or contest)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "large",
          "large"
        ],
        [
          "margin",
          "margin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) by a large margin (in a game or contest)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "That is a rather difficult task, hands down.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "without question; undoubtedly"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "question",
          "question"
        ],
        [
          "undoubtedly",
          "undoubtedly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) without question; undoubtedly"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hands, down."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hands",
          "hands#English"
        ],
        [
          "down",
          "down#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hands down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg/En-au-hands_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "bisuhūla",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "بِسُهُولَة"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "met losse handen"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "met gemak"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "moeiteloos"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "helposti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "les doigts dans le nez"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "haut la main"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "leichthin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "mühelos"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "spielend"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "locker"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "mit Leichtigkeit"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "mit Links"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "avróchois posín",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "αβρόχοις ποσίν"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "ad occhi chiusi"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "tags": [
        "Brazil"
      ],
      "word": "com uma mão nas costas"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "tags": [
        "Portugal"
      ],
      "word": "com uma perna às costas"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "fără efort"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "without much effort, easily",
      "word": "cu ușurință"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without question",
      "word": "keine Frage"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "without question",
      "word": "ganz ohne Zweifel"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "without question",
      "word": "senza dubbio"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "without question",
      "word": "bez dwóch zdań"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hands down"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verb forms"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "See hand down",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
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      "expansion": "hands down",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "hand down"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "third-person singular simple present indicative of hand down"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hand down",
          "hand down#English"
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      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
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        "third-person"
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-hands down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg/En-au-hands_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/En-au-hands_down.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hands down"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.