slam-dunk
UK[ˈslæm dʌŋk]US[ˈslæm dʌŋk]
n
a forceful and spectacular shot in basketball in which a player jumps and pushes the ball down through the basket.
n
something that is certain to succeed or be easily accomplished.
v
to score a point in basketball by performing a slam dunk.
v
to do something with complete certainty or overwhelming success.
Morpheme Breakdown
slam
dunk
slam
forceful impact
dunk
to submerge
Etymology
the compound "slam-dunk" is a quintessentially american creation, born from the sport of basketball in the mid-20th century. it fuses the violent, onomatopoeic force of "slam," suggesting a powerful, crashing action, with the basketball-specific sense of "dunk," which evolved from its germanic root meaning "to dip" or "immerse." the logic is vividly literal: the player "slams" the ball forcefully "down into" (dunks it through) the basket. this concrete athletic imagery proved so compelling that by the 1970s it had metaphorically extended into general language to describe any action guaranteed to succeed or be effortlessly executed, capturing the sense of certainty and dominant force associated with the spectacular play.
Analysis
Structure: slam (forceful impact) + dunk (to submerge)
slam: of scandinavian origin (e.g., old norse slemma); an onomatopoeic word imitating a violent impact. functions as a verb/noun meaning to shut or hit with great force.
dunk: from pennsylvania german dunke, meaning to dip, from middle high german dunken, from old high german thunkōn; functions as a verb meaning to immerse something briefly in liquid, or, in basketball, to thrust the ball downward into the basket.
Examples
the center's powerful slam-dunk in the final seconds won the championship game.
with their superior product and marketing, the product launch was a complete slam-dunk.
he managed to slam-dunk the proposal past the board with his convincing presentation.