Struck a blow

[musicgold]

Hi,

Can I change the underlined part ‘were struck a blow’ with ‘were struck by a blow’ in the following sentence, without changing its meaning?

Former clients of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s European arm were struck a blow Friday after the U.K. High Court said it couldn't approve a plan to expedite the return of around $9 billion of their assets.

Thanks,

MG.

[bhaisahab]

Hi,

Can I change the underlined part ‘were struck a blow’ with ‘were struck by a blow’ in the following sentence, without changing its meaning?

Former clients of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s European arm were struck a blow Friday after the U.K. High Court said it couldn't approve a plan to expedite the return of around $9 billion of their assets.

Thanks,

MG.

No, not really; "...were struck by a blow..." sounds as though they were literally struck physically.

[musicgold]

Thanks.

Isn’t the first sentence trying to convey the same thing metaphorically? The clients of Lehman Brothers were devasted by the news.

[bhaisahab]

Thanks.

Isn’t the first sentence trying to convey the same thing metaphorically? The clients of Lehman Brothers were devasted by the news.

Yes it is.