grand slam

noun

1

baseball : a home run hit with the bases loaded

… the Dodgers' Eric Karros has a shot to become the first player in history to get 200 career home runs without a grand slam.

—Tim Kurkjian

2

a usually Grand Slam

(1)

: the winning of all four of the most significant championships in a particular sport in the same year

—used especially in tennis and golf

… with … Nadal spoiling Federer's bid for the Grand Slam by beating him on the clay at the French Open.

—Sean Gregory

"And so to St. Andrews to begin the quest for the Grand Slam," he [Bobby Jones] wrote.

—Dave Anderson

also : the winning of all four such championships during the course of one's career

Woods … could become the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam, at age 24.

—Clifton Brown

(2)

: one of the championships that comprise a Grand Slam : major entry 2 sense 6

"Last year she was a little hungrier," says Davenport's coach, Robert Van't Hof. "She hadn't won a Grand Slam yet."

—Diane K. Shah

—often used before another noun

a Grand Slam event/tournament

Graf was 17 when she won the first of her 21 Grand Slam titles here in 1987 …

—Robin Finn

b

: a clean sweep or total success

3

: the winning of all the tricks in one hand of a card game (such as bridge)

Once, looking over Grace's shoulder, I saw her make a grand slam in clubs when the highest trump card in her hand was the nine.

—William Maxwell

Examples of grand slam in a Sentence

He made a grand slam.

Recent Examples on the Web

Sinner coasted to another grand slam title from there, becoming the youngest man for 32 years to win back-to-back tournaments in Melbourne. —Issy Ronald, CNN, 26 Jan. 2025

To beat 3 grand slam champions on route to her first one is unheard of. —Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 25 Jan. 2025

The American tennis player, 29, secured her first grand slam title on Jan. 25, achieving a breakthrough win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was vying for what would have been a historic three-peat. —Rachel Raposas, People.com, 25 Jan. 2025

Keys, a tennis prodigy, was hoping to finally win a grand slam title and cement her place among the greats of women's tennis. —Mansee Khurana, NPR, 25 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

grand slam

noun

: a home run hit with three runners on base