coup de poing

[ French kooduh-pwan ]

noun

, Archaeology.

, plural coups de poing [kood, uh, -, pwan].

1. (no longer in technical use) a Lower Paleolithic stone hand ax, pointed or ovate in shape and having sharp cutting edges.

Word History and Origins

Origin of coup de poing¹

1910–15; < French: literally, blow of the fist

Example Sentences

Pre-Chellean, prototypes of coup de poing; old 'lower gravels' (E. antiquus).

From Project Gutenberg

It is this grasping of the primitive tool by the hand to which the terms 'coup de poing,' 'Faustkeil,' and 'hand-axe' refer.

From Project Gutenberg

Capitan also holds that the coup de poing is not a single tool but is designed to meet many various needs.

From Project Gutenberg

This implement, which serves the original idea of the coup de poing, develops into the round-pointed and lance-pointed forms.

From Project Gutenberg