second hand

See also: second-hand and secondhand

English

Alternative forms

• secondhand
• second-hand

Adjective

second hand (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of secondhand

Usage notes

• secondhand and second-hand may be preferred spellings for the adjective meaning "not new", to avoid confusion with the noun "second hand" referring to the hand of a clock or watch.

Related terms

• at second hand

Translations

secondhand — see secondhand

Noun

second hand (plural second hands)

1. On a clock or watch, the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed.
2. An intermediate person or means; intermediary.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Walter Scott, editor, Memoirs of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin‎^[1], page 135:

     “My Lord Oxford, by a second hand, proposed my being his chaplain, which I, by a second hand, excused.

   • 1832, James Sheridan Knowles, The Magdalen, and other tales‎^[2], page 3:

     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.

Derived terms

• at second hand

Translations

the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed

• Dutch: secondewijzer (nl) m
• Finnish: sekuntiosoitin (fi), sekuntiviisari (fi)
• French: trotteuse (fr)
• German: Sekundenzeiger m
• Indonesian: jarum detik
• Japanese: 秒針 (byōshin)
• Macedonian: секундарник m (sekundárnik)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sekundviser (no) m

  Nynorsk: sekundvisar m

• Portuguese: ponteiro dos segundos m
• Russian: секу́ндная стре́лка f (sekúndnaja strélka)
• Swedish: sekundvisare (sv) c

References

• second hand at OneLook Dictionary Search