reach-me-down

[ reech-mee-doun ]

See synonyms for reach-me-down on Thesaurus.com

noun, adjectiveBritish.

hand-me-down.

Origin of reach-me-down

First recorded in 1860–65

Words Nearby reach-me-down

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use reach-me-down in a sentence

It is like buying a reach-me-down suit, which I have never done.
Dodo's Daughter | E. F. Benson
A drama conceived in this reach-me-down fashion will scarcely have the breath of life in it.
Play-Making | William Archer
Every reach-me-down that had been hanging these twenty years flapped about their limbs, hindering their progress.
The Cathedral | Joris-Karl Huysmans
And you come to me stinkin' of beer in a reach-me-down overcoat, and pretend you be the law!
Shining Ferry | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for reach-me-down

reach-me-down

nouninformal

- (often plural) a garment that is cheaply ready-made or second-hand
- (as modifier): reach-me-down finery
(plural) trousers

(modifier) not original; derivative; stale: a stock of reach-me-down ideas

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse