COMMON

1. If you win a contest hands down, you win it easily. We have been beaten in some games which we should have won hands down. Note: You can also say that you beat someone else hands down. When he said he would beat me hands down, I didn't expect him to run like that.

2. When you are comparing things, you can say that the thing which is clearly best wins hands down. The New Winter Palace Hotel wins hands down for both comfort and location. Note: You can also say that one thing beats another hands down. I had always enjoyed driving through the New Forest, but two-wheeled travel beats the car hands down. Note: You can also talk about a hands-down winner. In any bar debate about the best Canadian folk song of all time, the hands-down winner is always Tyson's Summer Wages. Note: Hands down is used in other structures where you are saying that something is clearly the best. We are hands-down, flat-out the leaders of the world in this. `The greatest thing ever invented has to be the Thermos flask,' I said. `Easy. Hands down.' Note: This expression was originally used in horse racing to describe jockeys who won their races very easily and could cross the winning line with their hands lowered and the reins loose.