smoking gun
noun
: something that serves as conclusive evidence or proof (as of a crime or scientific theory)
Examples of smoking gun in a Sentence
This document is the smoking gun that proves that he was lying.
Recent Examples on the Web
The brains of patients Alzheimer’s disease also showed increased levels of zinc and decreased levels of copper, something scientists had observed before.
Consistently finding lower lithium levels in the brains of people with memory loss amounted to a smoking gun, Yankner said.
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Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
But there’s no smoking gun, no official designation, no bronze plaque.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 30 June 2025
My point here is there no conclusive smoking gun in the literature about difference in tolerance between boys and girls that might explain my speculative observations.
—Marshall Shepherd, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
In the tale of two realities, the prosecution has essentially treated the footage, portions of which were exclusively aired on CNN back in the spring of 2024, as a smoking gun.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for smoking gun
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Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
But there’s no smoking gun, no official designation, no bronze plaque.
—David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 30 June 2025
My point here is there no conclusive smoking gun in the literature about difference in tolerance between boys and girls that might explain my speculative observations.
—Marshall Shepherd, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
In the tale of two realities, the prosecution has essentially treated the footage, portions of which were exclusively aired on CNN back in the spring of 2024, as a smoking gun.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for smoking gun
Cite this Entry
“Smoking gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smoking%20gun. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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