open-and-shut

American  

[oh-puhn-uhn-shuht] / ˈoʊ pən ənˈʃʌt /

adjective

1. immediately obvious upon consideration; easily decided.

   an open-and-shut case of murder.

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open-and-shut British  

adjective

1. easily decided or solved; obvious

   an open-and-shut case

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open and shut Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of open-and-shut

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Explanation

Anything open-and-shut is straightforward and obvious. Lawyers and detectives love an open-and-shut case because it’s easy to resolve. TV crime shows don’t have a lot of open-and-shut cases because they’re no fun to figure out. Police detectives working on an open-and-shut bank robbery case have no doubt about who the thief is, and they may even know exactly where he's hiding out. An open-and-shut case of workplace discrimination is easy to prove, and the bosses are going to get in big trouble. An open-and-shut case is so obvious that it doesn't take long to wrap it up and move on to the next one. This American English phrase was first used in 1840s New Orleans.

Example Sentences

Our reviewer, Steven Poole, wrote that “the book proceeds like a convoluted murder mystery, introducing one suspect after another in what seems like an open-and-shut case, before puncturing the promising narrative with an inconvenient fact.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

But what seemed like an open-and-shut case dragged on for nearly a decade.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2025

And it’s difficult to envision four members of the current court agreeing to do so given the open-and-shut failure of Davis’ main argument.

From Slate • Aug. 13, 2025

It is not an open-and-shut case at all.

From Salon • May 15, 2024

But when it comes to cause and effect, there is often a trap in such open-and-shut thinking.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt