1.   The blow was hard enough to knock him off balance.

2.   The blow was so sudden and vicious that he dropped to his knees.

3.   She tried to short-circuit the impact on her senses, but there was a blow like a mule-kick to her stomach and she gave an involuntary gasp.

4.   Although the records of investors have been preserved through redundant computer systems, he suggested that the blow was likely to do significant psychological harm.

5.   And there was another blow to the sanctions regime the week before last.

6.   Another blow for Endeavor was when the comedian Chris Farley died two weeks after he signed with the agency.

7.   Also a lethal blow is that set-up man, Jay Powell, a key off-season acquisition, is ailing, and may join Zim on the disabled list.

8.   Boskie said the big blow was his walking Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez just before Buhner delivered his hit.

9.   But for Abu Elba, the economic blow was devastating, said his wife.

10.   But that final blow was hardly the first.