second hand
second hand[ noun ]- an intermediate person; used in the phrase `at second hand'
<noun.person>
he could learn at second hand from books
- hand marking seconds on a timepiece
<noun.artifact>
[ adv ]- from a source of previously owned goods
<adv.all>
I prefer to buy second hand
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.
Man
An angel's second, nor his second long. --Young.
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.
Being sure enough of seconds after the first onset.
--Sir H.
Wotton.
3. Aid; assistance; help. [Obs.]
Give second, and my love
Is everlasting thine. --J. Fletcher.
4. pl. An article of merchandise of a grade inferior to the
best; esp., a coarse or inferior kind of flour.
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.
6. In the duodecimal system of mensuration, the twelfth part
of an inch or prime; a line. See {Inch}, and {Prime}, n.,
8.
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.
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.