little slam
- noun
- Jargon
:
pequeño slam
- In the final hand, we achieved a little slam by winning twelve tricks.
Examples
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Winning a little slam requires skill and strategy to capture almost all the tricks.
-
After careful planning, our team managed to secure a little slam in the bridge game.
-
- Little slam in spades.
Synonyms
A bridge result when players win all but one trick in a hand
How Many Tricks
- Jargon
4
6.6
- Jargon
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'little' signals a reduced or smaller version of a 'slam' (a contract to win all tricks), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it means a lesser slam—i.e., winning almost all tricks rather than every trick. This is a regular adjective + noun compositional pattern and therefore directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Little slam comes from the card game bridge: a slam is a big, clear win and little shows it is not the full win. That's why a little slam means 'to win twelve of the thirteen tricks', or 'almost all' the tricks.