smoking guns
Incriminating proof found
Smoking guns are pieces of evidence that conclusively prove wrongdoing or guilt.
The image is of a gun still smoking after being fired—impossible to deny who pulled the trigger.
The phrase appears most often in political and legal contexts: Investigators found smoking guns in the company's internal emails.
A single piece of such evidence is a smoking gun.
- clueSolving aid
- proofDemonstration of truth
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
- signMark conveying information
- indicatorSign revealing status
incriminating evidence · paper trail · bombshell · Watergate scandal · Nixon tapes · Pentagon Papers · leaked documents · witness · whistleblower · caught red handed · exhibit · forensics · crime scene · supports · confirmation · fingerprint · demonstration · exposé
smoking gunscircumstantial evidence
Facts requiring inference
hearsay · conjecture · speculation · indirect evidence · innuendo
smoking gunsdead ends
Routes with no exit
red herrings · wild goose chases · nothing burgers · dry holes · empty hands
smoking gunsexculpatory evidence
Proof of innocence
alibis · clean hands · reasonable doubt · vindication · mitigating evidence
smoking, smoke, guns, smoked, smoker, smokers, smokeless, smoky, smokier