slam dunk

noun, Basketball.
1.
a particularly forceful, often dramatic dunk shot.
Origin
1975-80
Related forms
slam dunker, noun

slam-dunk

[slam-duhngk] /ˈslæmˌdʌŋk/
verb (used with object)
1.
Basketball. to dunk (the ball) with great force.
Examples from the web for slam dunk
  • But even more important than the hominid bones was the slam dunk evidence for the ecological context the creature had inhabited.
  • Yeah, everyone says the second trilogy was a slam dunk.
  • Lasagnes of any kind are a slam dunk, a sure crowd-pleaser.
  • How you got involved in this whole thing was with the aim to slam dunk it.
  • If it were a slam dunk argument in his favor he would not be battling the lawsuits with high--paid lawyers.
  • It's the same elation that follows a game-winning goal or a buzzer-beating slam dunk.
  • In fact, you would have thought this small business bill would have been a slam dunk.
  • Of course, engineering judgment needs to be applied, it's not a slam dunk.
British Dictionary definitions for slam dunk

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
3.
(basketball) to jump up and force (a ball) through a basket
Slang definitions & phrases for slam dunk

slam dunk

modifier

: Welfare reform should have been a slam-dunk issue for the Republicans. But last week they allowed tax cuts to get in the way/ The bombing is not a slam-dunk case. It's going to require a really good presentation by the government to convince the jury

noun phrase
  1. A spectacular success; winner: Both pro-and antimerger members have been equally taken with the new rabbi. ''It's a slam dunk,'' enthuses Corwin (1990s+)
  2. (also slam-dunk landing): The safety board said that Flight 2268 didn't need to dive abruptly toward the runway. It contended the pilot elected to quickly slow down the plane for a slam dunk landing by reversing the engines
verb phrase

To score a field goal by leaping up and thrusting the ball violently down through the hoop (1976+ Basketball)


Idioms and Phrases with slam dunk

slam dunk

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.