mortal wound
Killing blow dealt
A mortal wound is an injury that will cause death—not necessarily instantly, but inevitably.
The phrase appears in medical, military, and narrative contexts: He suffered a mortal wound in the battle and died hours later.
Figuratively, something that fatally damages an institution or endeavor: The scandal dealt a mortal wound to his campaign.
- fatalCausing death or ruin
- lethalCausing or capable of death
- fatal blowLethal strike, ending life
- deathblowFinal, fatal stroke
- coup de grâceMerciful finishing blow
bleeding · stab · gash · piercing · dying · battlefield · agony · sword · gut · chest · hemorrhage · slain · fallen · combat · blade · arrow · severed · puncture
- finishing blowsfinishing blow, final blow, deathblow, finisher, finishing move
- literary deathdeath scene, deathbed, dying, corpse, funeral
- Trojan WarTroy, Achilles, Hector, Helen, Odysseus
- combatbattle, fight, combat, unarmed combat, grappling
- Duelingduel, duels, dueling, duelist, pistols at dawn
mortal, wound, mortality, mortally, immortal, immortality, mortician, mortify, mortification