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
Even better, the researchers at GreenLight Biosciences combed through bioinformatic databases to find just the right gene to disrupt to avoid collateral damage to honeybees and other harmless species.
—
Andrew Rosenblum, Popular Science, 26 Dec. 2024
But there’s a surprising amount of collateral damage here, too.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
Remind him that your goal is to support his decisions about maintaining his own limits while ensuring that your relationship with him doesn’t become collateral damage in this family conflict.
—Lori Gottlieb, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2024
Beyond productivity, the collateral damage of low performance impacts every level of an organization.
—Scott Hutcheson, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for collateral damage 
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Andrew Rosenblum, Popular Science, 26 Dec. 2024
But there’s a surprising amount of collateral damage here, too.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
Remind him that your goal is to support his decisions about maintaining his own limits while ensuring that your relationship with him doesn’t become collateral damage in this family conflict.
—Lori Gottlieb, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2024
Beyond productivity, the collateral damage of low performance impacts every level of an organization.
—Scott Hutcheson, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for collateral damage
Dictionary Entries Near collateral damage
Cite this Entry
“Collateral damage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collateral%20damage. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.
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