sure-fire

See also: surefire

English

Alternative forms

• surefire

Etymology

From 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^[1]:

     […] 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^[2], →ISSN:

     There certainly looks to be a whole clutch of sure-fire winners among the 11 promised new productions.

See also

• foolproof