open-and-shut

[ oh-puhn-uhn-shuht ]

adjective

1. immediately obvious upon consideration; easily decided:

   an open-and-shut case of murder.

open-and-shut

adjective

1. easily decided or solved; obvious

   an open-and-shut case

Word History and Origins

Origin of open-and-shut¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Idioms and Phrases

Simple, straightforward, easily solved, as in With three eyewitnesses, the prosecutor said this case was open and shut . This term suggests that one has immediate access to the facts of a situation. [c. 1840]

Example Sentences

And sometimes the open-and-shut of the steam hog had to go pfisty-pfoost, pfisty-pfoost.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm not suspecting anything, mind, but this has got to be an open-and-shut deal, or I don't go in.

From Project Gutenberg

Boys, it's a clean, open-and-shut job—with absolutely nothing to interfere.

From Project Gutenberg

But McNeill's could not afford to be shown up before thirty interested rivermen as running an open-and-shut brace-game.

From Project Gutenberg

But it had been all over in a breath, just an open-and-shut piece of battiness, same as fellers have when they jump a bridge.

From Project Gutenberg