Idiom
smoking gun
Meaning
Evidence, particularly of a crime, that is difficult or impossible to dispute.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The missing money is the smoking gun in this case.”
“The detective found a hidden email that served as the smoking gun, proving the manager knew about the fraud.”
“Although the suspect maintained his innocence, the discovery of the encrypted files provided the smoking gun that ultimately led to his conviction.”
Examples
simple
“The missing money is the smoking gun in this case.”
contextual
“The detective found a hidden email that served as the smoking gun, proving the manager knew about the fraud.”
complex
“Although the suspect maintained his innocence, the discovery of the encrypted files provided the smoking gun that ultimately led to his conviction.”
Origin
Often traced back to the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Gloria Scott.
Key words
Related idioms
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