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

Jason Heyward hit a grand slam and Teoscar Hernández had a three-run homer and the Dodgers won, 11-9. —Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024

Because, in his first season in the big leagues, Langford had … a cycle … and an inside-the-park homer … and a walk-off grand slam. —Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024

More from Sports Players are buying in, but the NBA Cup is still a work in progress This NBA team’s winning strategy: Play like 'junk' Freddie Freeman's World Series grand slam ball sells for $1.56 million in auction The 2024 All-Star game was widely criticized for its lack of defensive effort. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 17 Dec. 2024

All are gourmand grand slams, and the box makes a fantastic presentation as a gift this holiday season. —Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 26 Nov. 2024

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