hole in one

🌎Region: International 📊Difficulty Level:intermediate

💡Meaning

A golf shot that goes from the tee directly into the hole in a single stroke; by extension, a perfect success on the first try.

🕰️Origin

From the sport of golf: a ball holed with a single stroke (typically from the tee on a par-3). The term has been used since the early 20th century and later broadened metaphorically to mean a first-try success.

📝Notes

Primarily a golf term; figuratively it praises a perfect result on the first attempt. Casual and positive; commonly used as a metaphor for “nailed it.”

💬Examples

I got a hole in one on the 17th hole yesterday.
Everyone cheered in disbelief when she scored a hole in one.
A hole in one is the kind of thing you might only see once in a lifetime.
That hole in one ball is still sitting on my desk at home.
He nailed his first hole in one as a pro on live TV.

📘Grammar & Usage Notes

Usually used as a noun phrase: “a hole-in-one” (often hyphenated as a modifier: “a hole-in-one shot”). Can be used predicatively: “That was a hole-in-one.”

🔗Synonyms

ace
perfect shot
nailed it
hit the bullseye

↔️Antonyms

miss
strike out
fall short