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tour de force - 3 dictionary results

tour de force

[toor duh fawrs, -fohrs; Fr. toor duh fawrs]
–noun, plural tours de force [toorz duh fawrs, -fohrs; Fr. toor duh fawrs] .
1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius: Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.
2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation: The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.
3. a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

Origin:
1795–1805; < F: feat of strength or skill
tour de force   (tōōr' də fôrs', fōrs')   
n.   pl. tours de force (tōōr')
A feat requiring great virtuosity or strength, often deliberately undertaken for its difficulty: "In an extraordinary structural tour de force the novel maintains a dual focus" (Julian Moynahan).

[French : tour, turn, feat + de, of + force, strength.]

tour de force [(toor duh fawrs)]

A feat accomplished through great skill and ability: “The speech was a tour de force; it swept the audience off its feet.”

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