game, set, match
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.92 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Victory at the conclusion of a tennis match.
phrase
An expression indicating finality, announcing that a series of events—usually involving some form of rivalry—has reached a conclusion.
Example Sentences
- ""Game, set and match to Byrd!" announced Westcott above the applause. "Byrd wins the School Championship!""
- "A few years after that, Mikhail Gorbachev effectively surrendered in a cold war that had lasted almost four decades, and in a few more years the Berlin Wall came down. Game, set, match."
- "The atom bomb: U.S. 1, U.S.S.R. 0. Then came Sputnik, and the score was tied at 1 apiece. Then Apollo and putting a man on the moon — game, set, match."
- "This is game, set and match for Microsoft. . . . [I]f Microsoft can pull off one operating system and one companion App Store that functions seamlessly across all device types from smartphones, to tablets, notebooks, hybrid 2-in-1 devices and desktops, all with common apps that just work, they could very well one-up the competition."
Etymology
Each noun names a component of the next one, and the final point scored by the victor is one that not only wins the game but also (thereby) wins the set and also (thereby) wins the match. The concept is comparable to the notion that the winning point not only makes their day but also makes their week and makes their month.