Hands down means without any doubt or competition; by a wide margin. When something wins hands down, it's so clearly the best that there's no question about it. If someone says chocolate ice cream is their favorite hands down, they mean nothing else even comes close.

You might say that hands down, summer vacation is better than a regular school day, or that your best friend makes the best brownies hands down. The phrase emphasizes that the choice is obvious and easy. There's no debate, no close second place, no “well, maybe.” When something wins hands down, it wins decisively.

People also use it to mean “easily” or “without difficulty”: “She won the spelling bee hands down” means she won so easily it seemed effortless.