coup de grâce
noun
\ ˌkü-də-ˈgräs
\
\
variants:
or coup de grace
plural coups de grâce
or coups de grace\ ˌkü-də-ˈgräs
\
\
Definition of coup de grâce
1
: a death blow or death shot administered to end the suffering of one mortally wounded
2
: a decisive finishing blow, act, or event
The decision to cut funding is the coup de grâce to the governor's proposal.
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Examples of coup de grâce in a Sentence
The legislature's decision to cut funding has administered the coup de grâce to the governor's proposal.
the prosecutor presented his coupe de grâce—a videotape of the beating
Recent Examples on the Web
In what had the look of a gangland-style coup de grace, the barrel of a gun had been thrust into his mouth, and the explosion had blown off the back of his head. — Steve Helling, PEOPLE.com, "30 Years After the Menendez Brothers Murders, Read PEOPLE's 1990 Cover Story," 20 Aug. 2019 He was absent all afternoon Thursday as the Basques delivered what appeared to be his coup de grace and was later pictured leaving a Madrid restaurant in which he’d been holed up with advisers for seven hours as his political support ebbed away. — Esteban Duarte, Bloomberg.com, "Rajoy Concedes, Sanchez Will Become Prime Minister: Spain Update," 1 June 2018 The coup de grace came from Joanne Calabria, the longtime spokeswoman for the news outlet on the other end of the dial, Channel 3, who eventually became a vice president there. — Stu Bykofsky, Philly.com, "How I learned not to use the 'C-word' | Stu Bykofsky," 1 June 2018 Before the coup de Grace, jokes at her expense were a bit risqué. — The Economist, "Satire is booming after Robert Mugabe’s fall," 24 May 2018 And then, on Thursday, for his coup de grace, Monopoly scaled a 40-foot wall at the front of the Fontainebleau Hotel to paint a giant mural featuring the TAG Heuer logo alongside his namesake character. — Scott Christian, Esquire, "How TAG Heuer’s Unlikely Collab With Graffiti Artist Alec Monopoly Came Together," 28 Dec. 2017 And then, in the coup de grace, a New York judge ruled Zervos's defamation suit against Trump could proceed and that a sitting president can be sued in state court for nonofficial acts. — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, "3 women. 1 day. 3 growing predicaments for Trump.," 21 Mar. 2018 The album's coup de grace horn parts were added after the fact. — Randy Lewis, latimes.com, "Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats' incredible journey to sophomore album," 9 Mar. 2018 The coup de grace was Mitchell’s homage to Vince Carter on the last dunk of the night. — Rohan Nadkarni, SI.com, "NBA Dunk Contest Grades: Donovan Mitchell Is Incredible While Dennis Smith Jr. Gets Robbed," 17 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coup de grâce.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for coup de grâce
coup de grâce
noun
English Language Learners Definition of coup de grâce
formal
: an action or event that finally ends or destroys something that has been getting weaker or worse
: a hit or shot that kills a person or animal that is suffering
See the full definition for coup de grâce in the English Language Learners Dictionary