collateral damage

noun

: injury inflicted on something other than an intended target

specifically : civilian casualties of a military operation

Examples of collateral damage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The flip side of this thinking can also, of course, be found in Israel, where any loss of an innocent Jewish life is mourned but the deaths of thousands of Palestinian women and children can be dismissed as collateral damage. —

Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2024 At first, the dynamic appeared to be little changed: Israel used precision weapons against Shukr to minimize collateral damage. —

Dana Stroul, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2024 Terry has a particular set of skills, and one of those skills is minimizing collateral damage. —

Daniel Joyaux, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2024 Yet progress is not painless and collateral damage in the building of a long-time contender is unavoidable. —

Jerry Beach, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for collateral damage

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'collateral damage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of collateral damage was in 1947

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Collateral damage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collateral%20damage. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

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