slam dunk

¹

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.

slam-dunk

²

[ slam-duhngk ]

verb (used with object)

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

slam dunk

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

verb

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

Other Words From

• slam dunker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of slam dunk¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

GOOD Meat has never been able to test the capacity of cell proliferation to that extent, but Tetrick is convinced that once he has the necessary bioreactors, it will be a slam dunk.

From Time

Its effectiveness as invasive species control may be debatable, but its value as pure gonzo fun looks to be a slam dunk.

From Popular-Science

“There’s no slam dunk because ultimately some court of appeal will have to decide whether in fact Hughes was subject to 1090,” Cabrera said.

From Voice of San Diego

Even then, the drug won’t be a slam dunk for everyone with Alzheimer’s.

From Time

With Macy's level of experience—with kernel coding and network stacks in particular—the project looked like a slam dunk.

From Ars Technica

That may be, but experts say that “similarities” to other attacks is hardly a slam dunk.

From The Daily Beast

And the information that the FBI has presented so far strikes many experts as hardly a slam dunk against Pyongyang.

From The Daily Beast

Apparently, 2016 is not shaping up as a Democratic slam dunk.

From The Daily Beast

Even as a Democrat, I am rooting for the GOP to seize this slam-dunk opportunity.

From The Daily Beast

For Best Actor in a Musical, Neil Patrick Harris seems like a slam dunk for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

From The Daily Beast

He always looks like he's about to slam-dunk your ass, and he's really into raising his voice for dramatic effect.

From Project Gutenberg

Kurt said that the anarchist bookstore would be a slam dunk, but it turned out to be the hardest sell of all.

From Project Gutenberg