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

Images circulated daily on social media of children killed as collateral damage in strikes on Hamas targets. — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 25 Oct. 2026

That financial panic set off a sequence of events that would be called the Great Depression, and the collateral damage included the closing of an era of Republican dominance in Washington. — Ron Elving, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026

Recently, anger at this collateral damage, heightened by the fish shortage, has evolved into a political movement. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026

The company says the design supports precision strikes while reducing the risk of collateral damage. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for collateral damage

• ramage
• samaj