Definition of "handed-down" [handed-down]

• Having been passed along from generation to generation (adjective)

WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.

• "We are all 2,000 years late to the pious party, and the best we can do is accept handed-down versions of what others supposedly said."
• "My handed-down squash casserole recipe is almost exactly your mom's except we cook the onions with the squash and don't add carrots."
• "And then, thinking of this, I wonder … I begin to wonder what my Little Bird will take in her own life from these handed-down patterns and rhythms."