smoking gun
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Conclusive evidence of a crime or wrongdoing
Literally: a gun still smoking after being fired
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The detective found the smoking gun in the suspect's car
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.
Common questions
What does “smoking gun” mean?
Conclusive evidence of a crime or wrongdoing Literally: a gun still smoking after being fired
Is “smoking gun” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.