All 4 Uses of
coup
in
A Thousand Splendid Suns
- He was the one who told her in the summer of 1973, when Mariam was fourteen, that King Zahir Shah, who had ruled from Kabul for forty years, had been overthrown in a bloodless coup.†
p. 23.4
- This was her nickname for Laila, Revolutionary Girl, because she'd been born the night of the April coup of 1978-except Khala Rangmaal became angry if anyone in her class used the word coup.†
p. 112.7
- This was her nickname for Laila, Revolutionary Girl, because she'd been born the night of the April coup of 1978-except Khala Rangmaal became angry if anyone in her class used the word coup.†
p. 112.7
- He'd been a high school teacher before the communists fired him-this was shortly after the coup of 1978, about a year and a half before the Soviets had invaded.†
p. 114.5 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(coup as in: deposed in the coup) the sudden overthrow of a government by use of limited forceThis sense of coup is also called a coup d'état.
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(2)
(coup as in: a financial coup) a brilliant and notable successThe term "coup de theatre" indicates a sensational moment in a theatrical stagecraft -- typically a surprise; or possibly a highly successful theatrical production.
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(3)
(coup de grace as in: delivered the coup de grace) deathblow
(literally a sword strike that mercifully kills a wounded animal, or metaphorically as the last in a series of things that defeated an opponent, idea, business or other entity.)The term coup de grace indicates a merciful death blow. - (4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)