'Second hand' definitions:
Definition of 'second hand'
(from WordNet)
adverb
From a source of previously owned goods; "I prefer to buy second hand"
noun
An intermediate person; used in the phrase `at second hand'; "he could learn at second hand from books"
noun
Hand marking seconds on a timepiece
Definition of 'Second hand'
From: GCIDE
- Second \Sec"ond\, n.
- 1. One who, or that which, follows, or comes after; one next and inferior in place, time, rank, importance, excellence, or power. [1913 Webster]
- Man An angel's second, nor his second long. --Young. [1913 Webster]
- 2. One who follows or attends another for his support and aid; a backer; an assistant; specifically, one who acts as another's aid in a duel. [1913 Webster]
- Being sure enough of seconds after the first onset. --Sir H. Wotton. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Aid; assistance; help. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Give second, and my love Is everlasting thine. --J. Fletcher. [1913 Webster]
- 4. pl. An article of merchandise of a grade inferior to the best; esp., a coarse or inferior kind of flour. [1913 Webster]
- 5. [F. seconde. See Second, a.] The sixtieth part of a minute of time or of a minute of space, that is, the second regular subdivision of the degree; as, sound moves about 1,140 English feet in a second; five minutes and ten seconds north of this place. [1913 Webster]
- 6. In the duodecimal system of mensuration, the twelfth part of an inch or prime; a line. See Inch, and Prime, n., 8. [1913 Webster]
- 7. (Mus.) (a) The interval between any tone and the tone which is represented on the degree of the staff next above it. (b) The second part in a concerted piece; -- often popularly applied to the alto. [1913 Webster]
- 8. (Parliamentary Procedure) A motion in support of another motion which has been moved in a deliberative body; a motion without a second dies without discussion. [PJC]
- Second hand, the hand which marks the seconds on the dial of a watch or a clock. [1913 Webster]