shoo-in
noun
Forms shoo-ins shoo in shoe-in shoe in
- noun (horse racing) The winner of a fixed race, a fixed race.
- noun (by extension, colloquial, originally US) A candidate or contestant generally agreed upon as the presumptive winner; a favorite, somebody who is well-liked or widely agreed upon. “She's very popular and good with numbers, so I expect she'll be a shoo-in for treasurer.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From a sense of the verb shoo, where racehorses would fall back and allow a chosen rider to win a fixed race. See 1910 quotation.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “shoo-in”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details