coup de grâce
[ kooduh grahs ]
/ kudə ˈgrɑs /
noun, plural coups de grâce [kooduh grahs] /kudə ˈgrɑs/. French.
a death blow, especially one delivered mercifully to end suffering.
any finishing or decisive stroke.
Nearby words
Origin of coup de grâce
literally, blow of mercy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for coup de grace
British Dictionary definitions for coup de grace
coup de grâce
/ French (ku də ɡrɑs) /
noun plural coups de grâce (ku də ɡrɑs)
a mortal or finishing blow, esp one delivered as an act of mercy to a sufferer
a final or decisive stroke
Word Origin for coup de grâce
literally: blow of mercy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for coup de grace
coup de grace
1690s, from French coup de grâce, literally "stroke of grace;" the merciful death-blow that ends another's suffering (see coup).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for coup de grace
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.