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

This Series featured the only World Series triple play, the first World Series grand slam (Cleveland’s Elmer Smith) and the first World Series home run by a pitcher (Cleveland’s Jim Bagby). —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2024

Volpe cracked a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the third inning as the Yankees overcame the menace that is Freddie Freeman and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-4, before an invigorated crowd of 49,354 at Yankee Stadium. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 30 Oct. 2024

The Yankees combined to score nine runs on six hits in the two innings, including a third-inning Anthony Volpe grand slam off Hudson and a Gleyber Torres three-run shot in the eighth inning off Honeywell. —Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2024

Anthony Volpe's grand slam in the third inning, and a five-run rally in the eighth inning, led the New York Yankees to an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday in Game 4 of the 2024 World Series. —Newsweek, 30 Oct. 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