sure-fire

See also: surefire

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

sure +‎ fire, originally used to denote the efficacy of firearms (rifles) to fire.

Adjective

sure-fire (comparative more sure-fire, superlative most sure-fire)

  1. Guaranteed to work or happen.
    That hat should be a sure-fire way to spot him in a crowd.
    • 2005, Cory Doctorow, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town‎:
      […] just as he knew that showing up for lunch with a brown bag full of dried squirrel jerky and mushrooms and lemongrass was a surefire way to end up social roadkill in the high school hierarchy, […]
    • 2014 April 29, Andrew Clements, “ENO's 14/15 season: some sure-fire winners, while Coliseum plans will strengthen the company”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:
      There certainly looks to be a whole clutch of sure-fire winners among the 11 promised new productions.

See also
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