Do you enjoy watching horseracing events? Some races have a tight finish. One horse wins by a hair’s breadth and experts are called in to review the video recordings of the race in order to confirm a winner. But in some races, there is an indisputable winner as one horse clearly wins hands down.
Today’s idiom can be used in situations where there is no doubt as to the results. Watch the video below and then try to use the expression in a sentence.
Transcript
Hands down? Like, keeping your hands down on the table? No, hands down is an idiom which means: without doubt, certainly, for sure.
This idiom is often used with a superlative. For example – hands down the best club in the city (without doubt the best club in the city; certainly the best club in the city).
Let’s look at a few examples of how we can use this phrase:
- That was hands down the best meal I’ve ever had!
- The Black Tie is hands down the best restaurant in the city.
- Rob could beat me in a race hands down. He’s lightning fast.
Hands down is often used as an adjective (with a hyphen) when we’re talking about winning something, as in the next example:
- Hillary Clinton is the hands-down favorite to win the Democratic nomination next year.
So there you have it. Can you use this idiom in a sentence of your own? Let us know in the comments section below!
Practice
Now, try out what you’ve learned by writing some sentences. The questions below may help to give you some ideas.
- What is the best restaurant you’ve ever visited? Why?
- What is your favorite vacation spot?
- Which book has been most influential in your life?
- Who do you feel is the greatest sports-player of all time?
- What brand of technology would you recommend to your friends, and why?
We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s lesson. If you are looking for more videos to improve your English language skills, click the links to try our free grammar and pronunciation lessons!
Or check out our course Essential English Idioms on Udemy.
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