SMOKING GUN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does smoking gun mean? 

• SMOKING GUN (noun)
  The noun SMOKING GUN has 1 sense:

1. indisputable evidence (especially of a crime)

  Familiarity information: SMOKING GUN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SMOKING GUN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indisputable evidence (especially of a crime)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("smoking gun" is a kind of...):

evidence (an indication that makes something evident)

 Context examples 

The scientists then analyzed this information to quantify what kind of turbulence exists in the region, which provided the final smoking gun of an HFA.

(Messenger spots giant space weather effects at Mercury, NASA)

While other telescopes had found hints that this explosion was not spherical, NuSTAR found the "smoking gun" in the form of a radioisotope called titanium-44.

(Star Explosion is Lopsided, NASA)