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Coup de grâce

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(Redirected from Finishing move) Death blow For other uses, see Coup de Grâce (disambiguation). "Finishing move" redirects here. For the professional wrestling term, see Glossary of professional wrestling terms § finisher.
Yell of Triumph, a painting by Alfred Jacob Miller depicting Native American hunters gathering around a mortally wounded buffalo, and engaging in a victory shout before administering their "coup de grâce" to the animal

A coup de grâce (/ˌkuː də ˈɡrɑːs/; French: [ku də ɡʁɑs] 'blow of mercy') is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. The meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death.

Modern law

Today, a coup de grâce for incapacitated soldiers would be a war crime: the laws of war mandate caring for the incapacitated and prohibit mercy killing.

See also

References

  1. Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, eds. The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005. ISBN 978-0618604999 p. 119.
  2. ^ Charles Harrington Elster. The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN 978-0618423156 pp. 110–111.
  3. Blum, Gabriella (2010). "The Laws of War and the "Lesser Evil"". The Yale Journal of International Law. 35 (1). hdl:20.500.13051/6604. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-09.

External links

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