change hands

change hands

To be acquired or bought by another person or group. The company has changed hands several times but is still on the verge of bankruptcy. The famous painting has changed hands only once since it was first sold.
See also: change, hand
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

change hands

[for something] to be sold or passed from owner to owner. (From the "point of view" of the object that is passed on.) How many times has this lot changed hands in the last ten years? We built this house in 1970, and it has never changed hands.
See also: change, hand
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

change hands

Pass from one owner to another. For example, This house seems to change hands every other year, or The contract is valid only when money changes hands. [Second half of 1600s]
See also: change, hand
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

change hands

COMMON If something changes hands, one person or organization gets it from another, usually by buying it. A bottle of this wine cost around £2 in 1962. Today, the same bottle would change hands for anything up to four hundred pounds. The property has changed hands several times recently. Note: When something is sold for a particular amount of money, you say that amount of money changes hands. Record sums of money changed hands at Christie's in New York, where a portrait by Vincent Van Gogh has been sold for more than eighty million dollars.
See also: change, hand
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

change hands

1 (of a business or building) pass to a different owner. 2 (of money or a marketable commodity) pass to another person in the course of a business transaction.
See also: change, hand
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

change ˈhands

pass to a different owner: The house has changed hands several times.
See also: change, hand
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

change hands

To pass from one owner to another.
See also: change, hand
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • be for the chop
  • chop
  • have arrived
  • anyone who is anybody
  • do well out of (someone or something)
  • do well out of somebody/something
  • on the cusp
  • fall off a truck
  • fall off the back of a truck
  • one foot in the grave, have
References in periodicals archive
The industrials sector witnessed a total of 13.34mn shares valued at QR360.05mn change hands across 9,776 deals.
Index breaks 10,600 points amidst stock split implementation
The next cheapest property to change hands in Coventry in August was a flat, 3 Bohun Street, Tile Hill, which was sold for PS67,000.
Bell Green home the cheapest sold in city at just PS55,000; SOMEONE SNAPPED UP A BARGAIN WITH THIS 'SUPERB' END TERRACE
Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, two middle-income housing communities that makeup the third largest residential complex in the city, will change hands for the third time in three years with the appointment of new managing agent, Rose Associates, Inc.
Rose Associates to take over Stuyvesant Town management
In this transaction, title to the part did not change hands; therefore, the part was not sold to the customer.
Rotable spare parts
The market witnessed a total volume of 51,945 QATR (Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded fund or ETF) valued at QR1.2mn trade across 84 transactions and as many as 23,888 QETF (Doha Bank sponsored ETF) valued at QR2.35mn change hands across 49 deals this week.
Qatar Index settles above 10,000 levels on strong buying interests
The hotel has had myriad owners, and soon it will change hands again.
Celebrating 70 years of celebrity: Delmonico Hotel marks anniversary
The market witnessed a total volume of 12,355 QATR (Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange traded fund or ETF) valued at QR0.27mn trade across 26 transactions and as many as 31,818 QETF (Doha Bank-sponsored ETF) valued at QR2.82mn change hands across 27 deals this week which saw no trading of treasury bills.
Three sessions witness robust gains on buying support from investors