Secondhand means previously owned or used by someone else before you got it. When you buy a secondhand bicycle, someone else rode it first, then sold it or gave it away. Thrift stores and garage sales are full of secondhand clothes, books, toys, and furniture that people no longer need.

There's nothing wrong with secondhand items: many work perfectly well and cost much less than buying new. Your family might buy a secondhand car that runs great but costs thousands less than a brand new one. Libraries let you borrow books that hundreds of other readers have enjoyed. Some secondhand things, like vintage baseball cards or antique furniture, become more valuable over time.

The word also describes information you didn't witness yourself. If your friend tells you what happened at recess but you weren't there, you're hearing it secondhand. Secondhand information can be less reliable because details get mixed up as a story passes from person to person, like in the game of telephone. Historians prefer firsthand accounts written by people who actually lived through events rather than secondhand reports from people who only heard about them later.