Usage Note
Asestar is used almost exclusively with violent or figurative blows: asestar un golpe, asestar una puñalada. It is not interchangeable with dar for most contexts; it implies a deliberate, aimed strike. In journalism it extends to figurative blows — asestaron un golpe al gobierno ('they dealt a blow to the government').
Examples
"Le asestó un golpe directo."
Natural Translation
He dealt him a direct blow.

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