COUP DE GRACE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Coup de grace

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/ku di greɪs/ Listen

noun

Coup n.

1.

A sudden stroke delivered with promptness and force; used also in various ways to convey the idea of an unexpected, clever, and successful tactic or stratagem.

2.

A single roll of the wheel at roulette, or a deal at rouge et noir. (Cant)

3.

Among some tribes of North American Indians especially of the Great Plains, the act of striking or touching an enemy in warfare with the hand or at close quarters, as with a short stick, in such a manner as by custom to entitle the doer to count the deed an act of bravery; hence, any of various other deeds recognized by custom as acts of bravery or honor. "While the coup was primarily, and usually, a blow with something held in the hand, other acts in warfare which involved great danger to him who performed them were also reckoned coups by some tribes." "Among the Blackfeet the capture of a shield, bow, gun, war bonnet, war shirt, or medicine pipe was deemed a coup."

Coup de grace, the stroke of mercy with which an executioner ends by death the sufferings of the condemned; hence, a decisive, finishing stroke.

Coup de main (Mil.), a sudden and unexpected movement or attack.

Coup de soleil (Med.), a sunstroke. See Sunstroke.

Coup d'état (Politics), a sudden, decisive exercise of power whereby the existing government is subverted without the consent of the people; an unexpected measure of state, more or less violent; a stroke of policy.

Coup d'oeil.

(a)

A single view; a rapid glance of the eye; a comprehensive view of a scene; as much as can be seen at one view.

(b)

The general effect of a picture.

(c)

(Mil.) The faculty or the act of comprehending at a glance the weakness or strength of a military position, of a certain arrangement of troops, the most advantageous position for a battlefield, etc.

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Etymology of 'Coup de grace'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Coup de grace" Quotes from Famous Books

... afterwards appear. For my own part, I conceive that, with the particulars of M. Pasteur's experiments before us, we cannot fail to arrive at his conclusions; and that the doctrine of spontaneous generation has received a final 'coup de grace'. ...

— The Method By Which The Causes Of The Present And Past Conditions Of Organic Nature Are To Be Discovered.--The Origination Of Living Beings • Thomas H. Huxley

... targets. At last I have met in you my match. Your quiver is full, I know, you artful warrior Queen! You are the only one in the world who has been able to turn Sandip out and call Sandip back, at your sweet will. Well, your quarry is at your feet. What will you do with him now? Will you give him the coup de grace, or keep him in your cage? Let me warn you beforehand, Queen, you will find the beast as difficult to kill outright as to keep in bondage. Anyway, why lose time in trying ...

— The Home and the World • Rabindranath Tagore

... of these matters was published by Dr. Haygarth, in a small volume entitled, "Of the Imagination, as a Cause and Cure of Disorders, exemplified by fictitious Tractors." The exposure was a coup de grace to the system of Mr. Perkins. His friends and patrons, still unwilling to confess that they had been deceived, tried the tractors upon sheep, cows, and horses, alleging that the animals received benefit from the metallic plates, but none at all from the wooden ones. But they found nobody to ...

— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Vol. I • Charles Mackay

... and bravely stands erect before the soldiers. The officer lowers his sword, a report {469} follows and Tosca seeing her lover fall sends him a kiss. When one of the sergeants is about to give the "coup de grace" to the fallen man Spoletta prevents him, and covers Mario with a cloak. Tosca remains quiet until the last soldier has descended the steps of the staircase, then she runs to her lover, calling to him, to rise. As he does not move, ...

— The Standard Operaglass - Detailed Plots of One Hundred and Fifty-one Celebrated Operas • Charles Annesley

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