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coup de grâce

noun [S]
 
 
/ˌkuː.dəˈɡrɑːs/ formal

Definition

an action that ends something that has been gradually getting worse, or that kills a person or animal in order to end their suffering: Jane's affair was the coup de grâce to her disintegrating marriage.Foreign words and phrases used in EnglishCausing something to endComing to an end
(Definition of coup de grâce noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
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