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

Santa Margarita 14, Granada Hills 2: Brody Schumaker hit a grand slam during an eight-run first inning and Jake Lavin finished with two hits and four RBIs to lead Santa Margarita in a five-inning win. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024

Wilmer Flores also has two, but Michael Conforto, who had a monster series, hit a grand slam on Saturday, so that takes the cake. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024

Each tournament is operated and organized by independent organizations that are separate from the PGA Tour but are still recognized as part of the Tour calendar, in a similar way to tennis’ four grand slams. —Sam Joseph, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024

Gonzalez’s homer was a grand slam with no outs in the fifth to make it 15-0. —Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2024

Hoskins also hit a grand slam against the Braves on opening day in 2019. —Journal Sentinel, 24 Jan. 2024

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies rose the most in value thanks to their rich TV deals and high attendance—but last year wasn’t a grand slam for most MLB teams. —Mike Ozanian, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

Fountain Valley 4, Los Alamitos 1: Sophomore Josh Grack hit a grand slam to lead Fountain Valley. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024

Marvin has 41 goals and 16 assists in seven games.. Andrew Becker Canyon Crest Baseball A Cal State Northridge signee, Becker went 4-for-5 with two home runs —one of them a grand slam — while driving in seven runs in wins over Fallbrook and El Camino. —Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 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