to win hands down
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To be victor without the slightest difficulty. The allusion is to horse- racing; if the jockey wins with his hands down it shows that he has not had to worry himself — he has had a "walk-over.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to win hands down” mean?
To be victor without the slightest difficulty. The allusion is to horse- racing; if the jockey wins with his hands down it shows that he has not had to worry himself — he has had a "walk-over.
Is “to win hands down” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.