Sentence examples for a first blow from inspiring English sources

As a first blow in his fight, the prime minister's aides have been accusing the police investigators of deliberately plotting to bring him down.

Margaret Thatcher's slashing of arts subsidy in the 1980s (yes, we can blame her) was a first blow, together with a global financial crisis and a diminution in corporate giving.

His contribution was to argue for a version of deterrence that relied on what became known as a ­second-strike capability — the ability to absorb a first blow and retaliate.

But next time you polish off the remains of your kids' supper, think of it not as a sad modern-parent way to eat, but as a political act, a first blow in the battle against waste.

But, in a first blow to his plan, the OBR said it would be for parliament to devise a definition, while its boss Robert Chote described the plan as "ambitious".

Those responsible later told the police they were trying to inflict maximum casualties on the station at Kasumigaseki, where most of Japan's central ministries are, as a first blow in a colossal battle with the government that they believed would bring the end of the world.

Then, in March, came a second blow.

And then came a second blow to my high expectations.

When the euro crisis dealt Spain a second blow in 2010, the banks' buffers had already been depleted.

After terrorism, war, SARS and the post-dotcom slowdown came a fifth blow in the form of jet-fuel prices.

The sole defense that one had against a ghūl was to strike it dead in one blow; a second blow would only bring it back to life again.