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
James had been so well-behaved that morning it was only logical for her to anticipate that he was about to abolish at one fell stroke all his hard-earned merits.
From The Place of Honeymoons by Keller, Arthur Ignatius
At this rate, you could efface the whole Decalogue and at one fell stroke destroy all laws, human and divine.
From Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals by Stapleton, John H. (John Henry)
Now, at one fell stroke, his villainy lay exposed.
From Five Thousand Dollars Reward by Pinkerton, A. Frank [pseud.]
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)