collateral damage

American  

noun

1. the killing of civilians in a military attack.

2. any damage incidental to an activity.

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collateral damage British  

noun

1. military unintentional damage to civil property and civilian casualties, caused by military operations

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Etymology

Origin of collateral damage

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

collateral damage

Too often a car crash involves collateral damage to other vehicles or bystanders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

A. Dirk Moses, the journal’s senior editor since 2011, argues it is useless to distinguish intentional killing of civilians from collateral damage caused by strikes against terrorists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

But the gain in energy stocks appeared relatively muted when compared with moves seen in other sectors that investors believed could suffer collateral damage.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

“With the yen funding a substantial volume of cross-currency positions, a more aggressive tightening path than markets currently anticipate carries the potential to inflict significant collateral damage well beyond Japan’s borders.”

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

She’s nothing but collateral damage in this whole mess, and it makes me feel some kind of way.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland