final nail in the coffin
Last decisive blow
The final nail in the coffin is the last in a series of events or factors that causes something to fail or end.
A business might survive declining sales and bad press, but a lawsuit becomes the final nail in the coffin.
The image is of a coffin being sealed shut—the last nail makes death official and irreversible.
- coup de grâceMerciful finishing blow
- death blowLethal finishing strike
- deathblowFinal, fatal stroke
- fatal blowLethal strike, ending life
- demiseCessation of existence
conclusion · downfall · last straw · death knell · writing on the wall · ruination · point of no return · beginning of the end · tipping point · swan song · kiss of death · death sentence · curtain call · undoing · terminus · failure · endpoint · breaking point
final nail in the coffinlifeline
Essential connection to safety
reprieve · saving grace · stay of execution · shot in the arm · lifesaver
final nail in the coffinturning point
Decisive moment of change
new beginning · fresh start · rebirth · resurrection · revival
final nail in the coffinreprieve
Postponement of punishment
stay of execution · last-minute save · saving grace · lifeline · get out of jail free card
final, finally, finale, finality, finalize, finalist, semifinal, nailed, nailing