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grand slam

grand slam

4 6.6
Winning every trick in one hand of bridge
  • noun
  • /ɡrænd slæm/
  • Jargon
translation icon : gran slam
  • Future Hall of Famers Ford and Marichal squared off in Game 4—a grand slam in the seventh got us the game and tied the series.
  • hit a grand slam
  • career grand slam
  • first grand slam

Examples

Synonyms

slam
vsgrand slam
  • Jargon
45 7.4

A bid in bridge to win all or almost all tricks

requires winning every trick in the hand
sweep
vsgrand slam
  • Jargon
7 7.7

A win in a card game where one side wins every trick

requires taking every trick rather than nearly all

How Ambitious

grand slam
  • Jargon
4 6.6
slam
  • Jargon
45 7.4
small slam
  • Jargon
9.2
game
1.0

Surface Forms

grand slam singular
grand slams plural

Morphology

grand + slam

The compound is partly compositional: 'grand' intensifies and 'slam' (in card-game jargon) denotes winning all the tricks, so a learner who already knows the specialized noun 'slam' can infer a larger or complete victory. However, 'slam' as a technical bridge term is domain-specific and not transparent to most B1 learners, so the overall phrase is only partially predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The noun grand slam comes from old card games like bridge. A slam meant a big win and a grand slam was when a player took every trick in one hand, so it means 'taking every trick' or a complete victory.