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

The food menu was also a grand slam, thanks to all-star chefs in the city who collaborated with the Phillies. —Kerri Corrado, CBS News, 25 Mar. 2026

Garcia drew criticism for not calling a strike on a 2-2 pitch from the Padres’ Mark Langston to the Yankees’ Tino Martinez in the 1998 World Series opener, and Martinez hit a tiebreaking grand slam on the next offering that sparked the Yankees to a four-game sweep. —Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 25 Mar. 2026

Cousins was the pitcher of record in Game 1, which culminated with Freddie Freeman’s dramatic walk-off grand slam off Nestor Cortes. —Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026

Missy Odom threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts and hit a grand slam in a Montverde victory. —Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for grand slam

• abram
• ashram
• begam
• buckram
• doorjamb
• exam
• goddam
• grandam
• priam
• program
• programme
• wolfram

Kids Definition

grand slam

noun

: a home run hit with three runners on base