鉄板
Meanings
1
iron plate; steel plate
Literal meaning: a flat sheet of iron or steel, used in construction, cooking (teppanyaki), etc.
Grill meat on an iron plate.
Cut steel plates at the factory.
2
sure thing; guaranteed success
Colloquial use, often in entertainment or business, meaning something is a guaranteed hit or safe bet. Frequently appears as 鉄板ネタ (guaranteed funny material) or 鉄板の組み合わせ (foolproof combination).
See also: 鉄板ネタ
This combination is a sure thing.
His jokes are guaranteed to get laughs.
Usage patterns
- 〈物〉を鉄板で焼くto grill/cook something on an iron plate
I grilled meat and vegetables on the iron plate.
- 〈事〉は鉄板だused to say something is a sure thing / guaranteed to work
This joke always gets laughs, it's a sure thing.
- 鉄板を敷くto lay down an iron/steel plate (e.g. at a construction site)
They laid down steel plates at the construction site to protect the road.
- 鉄板の〈物〉a guaranteed-to-succeed thing/combination
Curry and rice is a foolproof combination.