deathblows

Noun

deathblow (plural deathblows)

1. A strike or blow that leads to death, especially a coup de grâce.
   • He was also there at that fight when Hygelac folded under his deathblow.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 41

   Synonyms:

   another nail in one's coffin

2. (figuratively) Something that prevents the completion, or ends the existence, of a project etc.; a fatal setback.
   • The opening of the bridge dealt a deathblow to the ferry.