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deathblow

deathblow

1 7.9
A final action that kills or ends something completely
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛθˌbloʊ/
translation icon : golpe mortal
  • Of course, a slight decrease in loyalty is far from a deathblow to Apple and the iPhone.
  • delivering a deathblow
  • dealt a deathblow

Examples

  • And by the way, if we did shift, it would delay us somewhere between a year or two at the 3GPP conference and delay us getting into the marketplace, which would probably be a deathblow to what we're trying to do.

    Blog text (11)
  • That was nearly a deathblow.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • What a deathblow to this great ship.

  • The truth that you will not hear: we have been hit by an economic deathblow, and the United States lies in ruins.

    Blog text (4)
  • Crucially, not a Siren must manually Click to stop singing before the Chinese team can enact their deathblow and take the team fight.

  • But its opposition to the Communal Award caused a deathblow to its popularity among the Muslims because the urban members in Congress outweighed the rural members in the Punjab.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Not in tonnage destroyed, or star systems conquered, but in something far more precious because it was intangible, for they had delivered a potential deathblow to the terror of omnipotence, which was so much a part of State Security's repressive arsenal.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The warrior delivered a deathblow to the dragon, finally ending its reign of terror.

  • After a long battle, the hero struck the beast with a deathblow, bringing peace to the village.

  • The final act of mercy was to give him a deathblow to end his suffering.

Synonyms

coup de grace
vsdeathblow
8.4

A final action that ends something, often to stop suffering

is a physical killing blow rather than any broader final action
death knell
vsdeathblow
8.3

A bell rung to announce someone's death

refers to an actual lethal strike, not just a symbolic sign of ending

Idioms

deathblow to
  • Informal
7.6

An action or event that ends something completely

How Final

mercy killing
  • NSFW
7 6.3
deathblow
1 7.9
blow
271 2.0

Surface Forms

deathblow singular
deathblows plural

Morphology

deathblow = death + blow (transparent) = death + blow

The meaning follows directly from 'death' + 'blow' as a blow that causes death, a straightforward compound.

Etymology

The word deathblow is a simple compound: death, which means 'the end of life', and blow, which means 'a strong hit'. It originally meant a hit that 'kills', so today deathblow can also mean a final act or 'final defeat' that ends something, like a battle, a person's suffering, or a company.