hand off
verb
handed off; handing off; hands off
1
a
: to transfer (something) to another's possession
Back in California, the contraband was handed off to Wen and Tan, who arranged to have the phones shipped to their contacts in Asia.—
Matthew Shaer
Matthew ShaerRobert Polk … comes in carrying a gorgeous brisket fresh from the smoker and hands it off to Smitty, who starts slicing it to make sandwiches and plates.—Patricia Sharpe
Patricia Sharpe
b
: to pass or delegate (a task or responsibility) to another
I know how it feels … to wish I could hand off this never-ending responsibility and just go to the movies, any movie, without a diaper and a bottle in my bag.—Gwenda Blair
Gwenda BlairInundated by more information than we can possibly hold in our heads, we're increasingly handing off the job of remembering to search engines and smart phones.—Annie Murphy Paul
Annie Murphy Paul2
transitive + intransitive
American football
: to hand the ball to a nearby teammate on a play
The draw is a simple football play, a running play in which the quarterback delays before handing off the ball.—Frank Litsky
Frank LitskyNew York center Mel Hein snapped the ball to quarterback Harry Newman, who handed off to halfback Ken Strong, who tried to sweep around left end.—Peter King
Peter King
handoff
noun
plural handoffs
The quarterback faked a handoff to the running back.
When a product moves through the departments and functions of hundreds of savants, an enormous amount of time is wasted in handoffs between those functions and specialists and in checking and redoing work.
—Ronald L. Nicol
Ronald L. Nicol
Dictionary Entries Near hand off
Cite this Entry
“Hand off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand%20off. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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