fell stroke

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And then – boom! – with one fell stroke of an adapter’s arbitrariness, Mr. Kelly altered the play’s ending in a way that crudely shrinks and simplifies its intentions.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2010

In short, he had formed the stupendous ambition of becoming, at one fell stroke, a renowned ethnologist!

From The Mesa Trail by Bedford-Jones, H.

Nothing but the red mark on the doorway of the dwelling would be of any avail in warding off the fell stroke.

From The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus A Sunday book for the young by Macduff, John R. (John Ross)

He believed they were not far from Lake Ontario, and he had no doubt that Montcalm had prepared some fell stroke.

From The Masters of the Peaks A Story of the Great North Woods by Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)

By one fell stroke he was put in second place, a man who had to await the return of Palmer—and that in his own church, so to speak.

From Twelve Men by Dreiser, Theodore