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 strikeout dip is both concerning and real, but there also isn’t a smoking gun in the underlying metrics, an alarming velocity dip or a breaking ball that just doesn’t have the same snap. — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026

But the bigger bombshell isn’t some secret admission or smoking gun. — John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 July 2026

But the smoking gun was that the temperatures were also plunging deep underwater, at up to 1,000 meters below the surface. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 1 July 2026

Not a scandal, not even a smoking gun — but an admission. — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for smoking gun

• anyone
• everyone
• megaton
• overdone
• overrun
• begun
• grandson
• gudrun
• handgun
• homespun
• outdone
• outrun