smoking gun
- indisputable proof or evidence of a crime.
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Origin of smoking gun
First recorded in 1970–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
clueevidenceproofsubstantiationsupporttelltalecorroborationtip-offverificationdocumentationExamples from the Web for smoking gun
Contemporary Examples
Plumbers, hush money, enemies list, smoking-gun tape, the whole nine yards.
smoking gun
- a piece of irrefutable incriminating evidence
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with smoking gun
smoking gun
Something that serves as indisputable evidence or proof, especially of a crime. For example, There is no smoking gun in the Oval Office; the President had no role in tampering with the evidence. This expression alludes to the smoke coming from a recently discharged firearm, a normal occurrence until the invention of smokeless powder. [Mid-1900s]
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.