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“Hands down” means to be much better than the competition, originating from horse racing where a jockey relaxed the reins to win easily. The expression has spread to general usage and refers to effortless superiority. Other horse racing expressions include “home stretch” and “down to the wire.”
Being better “hands down” is an American English idiom that means to be much better than your competition. It comes from a common American English expression, “win hands down”. This is the most common form of the expression and indicates effortless victory.
The term “hands down” has its origin in the world of horse racing. In horse racing, a jockey must hold the reins tight to control the speed of his horse. To do this, he holds his hands in front of his body. Lowering the hands, and therefore the reigns, results in a reduction in the horse’s speed.
In 19th-century horse racing, a jockey who was far in front of his opponents relaxed the horse’s reins — giving him rest and reducing his chances of injury — as the end of the race approached. The horse could then run across the finish line at a slow pace. Since a jockey needed to lower his hands to relax the reins, this position was known as “hands down”. So when a jockey was said to win a race “hands down,” he won easily, leaving the other jockeys and their horses far behind.
From its sporting origins, the expression has spread into more general usage. Just as a jockey who finished the race with his hands down was demonstrating his lack of interest in the opposition, winners in other contests could be said to win ‘hands down’. The term became synonymous with decisive victory.
From the specific meaning of victory, the expression has extended by analogy to other forms of confrontation. For example, one might say that one product was better than another “without a doubt.” In modern English, the expression usually refers to one thing that is effortlessly superior to others.
“Hands off” is one of several expressions that originate in horse racing. For example, “home stretch,” used to refer to the final stage of a project or journey, derives from an equestrian term referring to the last section of a track before the finish line. “Down to the wire” similarly refers to the wire strung across a track at the finish line. The opposite of winning “hands down” is winning “by the nose”, another expression that originates from horse racing. Winning “by the nose” is winning by the narrowest of margins, as in the case of hockey where the horse’s nose is the only side to cross the finish line before another.
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