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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The show’s true question is more like: Who benefits from political violence, and who becomes its collateral damage? Judy Berman, TIME, 3 Dec. 2024 Overturning the current, dangerous power dynamic will take some work—we’re rapidly pushed to normalize a world in which AI companies simply put new and untested AI models into real-world systems, with regular people as the collateral damage. Rumman Chowdhury, WIRED, 26 Nov. 2024 The campaign promises that propelled Republican President-elect Donald Trump to a decisive victory last week over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, including huge tax cuts and tough anti-immigration measures, threaten collateral damage to the U.S. research enterprise, science advocates say. Byjeffrey Mervis, science.org, 12 Nov. 2024 The write-down brought into sharper focus the collateral damage of consumers’ shift from pay-TV subscriptions to streaming video platforms. Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for collateral damage 

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of collateral damage was in 1947

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 22 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on collateral damage

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