Meanings
present singular third person changes hands · participle present changing hands · participle past changed hands · past changed hands
- idiomaticTo become the property of someone else; to be bought or sold.
The food got a lot worse after the restaurant changed hands.
1 more example
The line has since changed hands several times, and is now to re-open as a preserved railway (a railway for leisure only), running vintage diesels and electrics, but with the aim of restoring steam.
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 210Synonyms: trade hands
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo become the property of someone else; to be bought or sold.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 易手, 倒手
- 易手 (yìshǒu)to become the property of someone else.
- 倒手 (dǎoshǒu)to become the property of someone else.
Czech změnit majitele
- změnit majiteleto become the property of someone else.
Finnish vaihtaa omistajaa
- vaihtaa omistajaato become the property of someone else.
French changer de main
- changer de mainto become the property of someone else.
Hungarian gazdát cserél
- gazdát cserélto become the property of someone else.
Italian cambiare di mano, cambiare proprietario
- cambiare di manoto become the property of someone else.
- cambiare proprietarioto become the property of someone else.
- cambiare esercenteto become the property of someone else.
Spanish cambiar de manos
- cambiar de manosto become the property of someone else.
Tamil கைமாறு
- கைமாறு (kaimāṟu)to become the property of someone else.
Vietnamese thay tay, đổi chủ
- thay tayto become the property of someone else.
- đổi chủto become the property of someone else.
Cite this entry
change hands. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/change%20hands
“change hands.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/change%20hands. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “change hands,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/change%20hands.
Source: change hands on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.