coup de grâce
A final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animalA final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal.
Meaning
2 sensesA final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal.
Gnadenstoß, Gnadenschuss
уда́р милосе́рдияudár milosérdija, после́дний уда́рposlédnij udár, смерте́льный уда́рsmertélʹnyj udár
(broadly, figuratively)A remarkable finishing action.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
First use appears c. 1699. Borrowed from French coup de grâce (“finishing blow”). OriginalFirst use appears c. 1699. Borrowed from French coup de grâce (“finishing blow”). Originally referring to a merciful stroke putting a fatally wounded person out of misery or to the shot delivered to the head of a prisoner after facing a firing squad.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.