Word.ws English Dictionary

second hand

/ˌsɛkənd ˈhænd/

second hand is the alternative form of secondhand.

Meaning of secondhand

Adjective

secondhand (not comparable)

  1. Not new; previously owned and used by another.
  2. Dealing in such merchandise.
  3. (figuratively) Indirect; from a secondary source; not firsthand.
    • In the light of recent history it is somewhat curious that this decisive power of the professional secondhand dealers in ideas should not yet be more generally recognized.1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 417
  4. Inhaled from the air near someone else smoking.
    • exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarette-smoking colleagues

See all 7 meanings of secondhand

Noun (1)

second hand (plural second hands)

  1. An intermediate person or means; intermediary.
    • “My Lord Oxford, by a second hand, proposed my being his chaplain, which I, by a second hand, excused.1826, Walter Scott, editor, Memoirs of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin, page 135
    • 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.1832, James Sheridan Knowles, The Magdalen, and other tales, page 3

Noun (2)

IPA/ˈsɛkənd ˌhænd/

second hand (plural second hands)

  1. On the clock face of a clock or watch, the hand (pointer) that shows the number of seconds that have passed.
    • ... the ticking of a second hand. Tick, tick, tick. The clock. Jude wrenched himself free of his gift's trance, surprised that there wasn't a tearing sound when his hand came free of the doubloon. The visions fell away, and he felt his ...2018 April 17, Bryan Camp, The City of Lost Fortunes, Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC

Forms of second hand

Adjective
alternative formsecondhand
alternative formsecond-hand
Noun
pluralsecond hands

Origin of second hand

second (ordinal) + hand (“party”)

second (“unit of time”) + hand (“pointer”)

Words formed from second hand

Questions about second hand

What does second hand mean?
Second hand means an intermediate person or means; intermediary.
What is second hand the alternative form of?
Second hand is the alternative form of secondhand.
What part of speech is second hand?
Second hand is a noun.
How do you pronounce second hand?
Second hand is pronounced /ˌsɛkənd ˈhænd/.
What is the plural of second hand?
The plural of second hand is second hands.

Words near second hand in the dictionary

  1. second guessers
  2. second guesses
  3. second guessing
  4. second half
  5. second halves
  6. second hand
  7. second hands
  8. Second Happy Time
  9. second helping
  10. second helpings
  11. second home

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: second hand (page history and authors); secondhand (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-second hand1.wav.

Cite this entry: “second hand.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/second_hand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.