chelem

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French chelem, from English slam.

Noun

chelem (plural chelems)

1. Synonym of slam
   1. (card games) The act or contract for winning all, or almost all, of the possible tricks.
      • 1882, Laws and Regulations of Short Whist:

        If the grand chelem is made, the winner receives seventeen points from each adversary and the game continues; if twelve tricks are made, the winner receives the value of sixteen points.

      • 1956, The Mathematical Gazette, page 66:

        The authors would claim only that the 131 tables which summarise the results of their analyses give added precision to the bridge player's judgements when, for example, he considers how to play " le squouize " or whether to bid a " grand chelem ".

      • 1980, Michael A. E. Dummett, Sylvia Mann, The game of Tarot: from Ferrara to Salt Lake City, page 297:

        The grand chelem is a contraot to take all the tricks, the petit chelem one to take all the tricks but two, in both cases after taking the talon and discarding.

   2. (sports) Winning all (or all but one) of the available, major or specified events in a given year or sports season.
      • 2011 October 30, “Vettel closes on Schumacher record”, in Express:

        For the first time in his career the Red Bull star achieved Formula One's grand chelem of pole, win, fastest lap and leading for every single lap, to further underline his dominant campaign.

      • 2015 December 10, “The 2015 Formula 1 Season in Numbers”, in Bleacher Report:

        The number of "grand chelems"—pole, fastest lap, lead every lap and win the race—achieved in 2015 (Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix).

      • 2017 July 16, Giles Richards, “Lewis Hamilton delivers F1 driving masterclass to win British Grand Prix”, in The Guardian:

        It is the fifth grand chelem of Hamilton’s career – securing pole, win, fastest lap and leading every lap – matching Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher. Only Clark has more, with eight.

French

Alternative forms

• schelem

Etymology

Borrowed from English slam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃlɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

chelem m (plural chelems)

1. (card games, sports) slam

Derived terms

• grand chelem

Descendants

• → English: chelem

Further reading

• “chelem”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.