coup de grâce
a death blow, especially one delivered mercifully to end suffering.
any finishing or decisive stroke.
Origin of coup de grâce
1Words Nearby coup de grâce
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use coup de grâce in a sentence
Simpson slumped around for a bit, and then, in an awkward coup de grace, proceeded to dance what she later called a "hoe-down."
Hey Beyoncé, Whitney Houston Lip Synced, Too (Video) | The Daily Beast Video | January 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTRefreshed by this coup de grace on the woman he had never forgiven, he hurried chastened and cheerful to Sheila.
Max Fargus | Owen JohnsonWe may have to administer the "coup-de-grace" with our hand-bayonets.
"Over There" with the Australians | R. Hugh KnyvettHow was I going to secure my victim before giving the coup de grace?
Jethou | E. R. SufflingThey had remained standing motionless in a very nonchalant way, waiting for the signal of the coup de grace.
Barney Blake, The Boy Privateer | Herrick Johnstone
But before a jury was empanelled the November ballot gave the Prosecution its "coup de grace."
Port O' Gold | Louis John Stellman
British Dictionary definitions for coup de grâce
/ French (ku də ɡrɑs) /
a mortal or finishing blow, esp one delivered as an act of mercy to a sufferer
a final or decisive stroke
Origin of coup de grâce
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for coup de grâce
[ (kooh duh grahs) ]
The final blow: “He had been getting deeper and deeper in debt; the fates delivered the coup de grâce when he died.” The phrase is French for “stroke of mercy.” It originally referred to the merciful stroke that put a fatally wounded person out of his misery or to the shot delivered to the head of a prisoner after he had faced a firing squad.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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