second hand

second (ordinal) + hand (“party”)

• secondhand
• second-hand

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛkənd ˈhænd/

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second hand (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of secondhand

• 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.

• at second hand

second hand (plural second hands)

1. An intermediate person or means; intermediary.
   • 1826, Walter Scott, editor, Memoirs of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin‎, 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, 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.

• at second hand

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkənd ˌhænd/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

second hand (plural second hands)

1. On a clock or watch, the hand or pointer that shows the number of seconds that have passed.
   • 2018 April 17, Bryan Camp, The City of Lost Fortunes‎, Titan Books, →ISBN, OCLC 1033604071:

     ... 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 ...

• second hand at OneLook Dictionary Search