coup de main

American  

[koo d^uh man] / ku də ˈmɛ̃ /

noun

French.

• coups de main
  plural

1. a surprise attack; a sudden development.

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coup de main British  

/ ku də mɛ̃ /

noun

1. military an attack that achieves complete surprise

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• coups de main
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of coup de main

Literally, “blow from the hand”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coup de main

In the ring, Pacquiao, an avatar of speed and power combined into unremitting attack, exemplifies the Napoleonic principle of coup de main, the bold, decisive strike.

From New York Times ● May 1, 2015

Now Robuchon has opened his first overtly Japanese restaurant, at the Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo, and it's exactly the chic coup de main his fans would expect.

From Time Magazine Archive

Said Army Major General Stanley McChrystal, a top Pentagon operations officer: "We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it in a coup de main."

From Time Magazine Archive

The twa powers are aye best, baith for themsels and their victims, when they tak them by storm, or, as the French say, by a coup de main.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. XX by Alexander Leighton

"This pass," he observed, "should also be attended to, lest the enemy by a coup de main should possess themselves of it before a sufficient force could be assembled to oppose them."

From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Washington Irving

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