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hand over

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To give something important to someone else, who now takes charge of it.

Literal meaning: To move something using your hand across to another person.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To give something to another person, especially under pressure or as part of a formal process.

"The thief was ordered to hand over his weapon immediately."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

To transfer power, control, or authority to another person or group.

"The president handed over power peacefully after losing the election."

""Nelson Mandela handed over power to Thabo Mbeki in 1999.""

— BBC News, historical archives
Grammar: separable
3 B1 neutral

To pass a person, especially a suspect or criminal, to an authority.

"The fugitive was captured and handed over to the local police."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Used in legal, political, and everyday contexts. 'Hand over the money' and 'hand over control' are very common. Also used in broadcasting to mean passing the programme to someone else. The noun 'handover' refers to the event of transferring control.

Commonly used with

control power suspect money document passport authority

Forms

Base
hand over
I/you/we/they
3rd person
hands over
he/she/it
Past simple
handed over
yesterday
Past participle
handed over
have + pp
-ing form
handing over
continuous

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Synonyms

transfer surrender deliver relinquish cede yield

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