coup de grâce
[ kooduh -grahs ]
/ kudə ˈgrɑs /
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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.
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Origin of coup de grâce
Literally, “blow of mercy”
Words nearby coup de grâce
county palatine, county seat, county town, coup, coup de foudre, coup de grâce, coup de main, coup de maître, coup de poing, coup d'essai, coup d'état
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use coup de grâce in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for coup de grâce
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
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Cultural definitions for coup de grâce
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.