deathblow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a blow that causes death

   The final sword stroke dealt the wounded soldier a deathblow.

2. 2
   noun

   an event that decisively destroys a plan, belief, institution, or hope

   The contradictory evidence was a deathblow to the cherished theory.

A compound of death + blow. The literal sense is a stroke that kills; the figurative sense treats a decisive defeat or destructive piece of evidence as fatal to an idea or undertaking.

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