hand down

verb

handed down; handing down; hands down

transitive verb

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

On Friday Deputy High Court Judge Susie Alegre handed down her judgment agreeing that both facets of the lawsuit – libel and misuse of private information – were unlikely to succeed at trial and dismissed the case. —K.j. Yossman, Variety, 20 Dec. 2024

The sentences handed down to Dominique Pelicot’s 50 co-defendants, on the other hand, were significantly lower overall than those recommended by the court, which had set the minimum sentence for rape at 10 years. —La Rédaction De Vanity Fair, Glamour, 19 Dec. 2024

The sentence handed down by Judge Kathy Lape matches a recommendation from prosecutors negotiated as part of Turner’s plea agreement. —Quinlan Bentley, The Courier-Journal, 19 Dec. 2024

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and his team repeatedly stated that his administration would scrap Biden’s pro-electric vehicle rules and legislation, as well as any waivers handed down to the states. —William Gavin, Quartz, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

hand down

verb

1

: to pass down from older to younger (as from parent to child)

2

: to form and express a judicial decision

Legal Definition

hand down

transitive verb

1

: to deliver (the decision or opinion of an appellate court) to the proper office of an inferior court

2

: to make an official formulation of and announce (the decision of a court)