slam-dunk

¹ American  

[slam-duhngk] / ˈslæmˌdʌŋk /

verb (used with object)

1. Basketball.  to dunk (the ball) with great force.

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slam dunk ² American  

noun

1. Basketball.  a particularly forceful, often dramatic dunk shot.

2. Slang.  something regarded as certain to occur or be accomplished, typically something desirable that requires little further effort.

   The election is starting to look like a slam dunk for our side.

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slam dunk British  

noun

1. basketball a scoring shot in which a player jumps up and forces the ball down through the basket

2. informal  a task so easy that success in it is deemed a certainty

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verb

1. basketball to jump up and force (a ball) through a basket

slam dunk Idioms  

1. A forceful, dramatic move, as in That indictment was a slam dunk if ever there was one. This expression is also often put as a verb, slam-dunk, meaning “make a forceful move against someone,” as in This is a great chance for us to slam-dunk the opposition. The idiom comes from basketball, where it refers to a dramatic shot in which the ball is thrust into the basket from above the rim. It was transferred to other activities from about 1980 on.

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Other Word Forms

• slam dunker noun

Etymology

Origin of slam dunk

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

The start of the National Basketball Association season Tuesday is set to test whether the NBA rights package will be a slam dunk or an air ball for NBCU.

From The Wall Street Journal

Security officials at the time said the case was a slam dunk, alluding to reams of compromising communications between the two men.

From The Wall Street Journal

At the start of the weekend, that looked like a slam dunk.

From BBC

Granted, there’s the natural compulsion to find something positive in a project that should have been a slam dunk for Bell, an actor most people deeply enjoy.

From Salon

Brennan’s longtime coverage of Clark’s career makes this book a slam dunk.

From Los Angeles Times