overkill
[oh-ver-kil]
- the capacity of a nation to destroy, by nuclear weapons, more of an enemy than would be necessary for a military victory.
- an instance of such destruction.
- an excess of what is required or suitable, as because of zeal or misjudgment.
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Origin of overkill
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
unwarrantedundueexcessiveillegitimateunjustinordinateunlawfulunfairextremeimproperexorbitantarbitrarywrongfulunjustifiableunconscionablesenselessfarfetchedabstractoverblownpreposterousExamples from the Web for overkill
Contemporary Examples
Do you tell [people] the shocking truth -- that he was practically cut in half from the overkill of ammo fired into his body?
While we may have reached peak Downey here, his gift for gab—even under the most dire of circumstances—never seems like overkill.
She denied that the 10 days of constant attacks amounted to overkill.
The same would apply to Democratic spending, too, of course, but the Democrats are less likely to hit the point of overkill.
At a certain point, political experts started to wonder whether it was overkill, as Gingrich started dropping in the polls.
overkill
- the capability to deploy more weapons, esp nuclear weapons, than is necessary to ensure military advantage
- any capacity or treatment that is greater than that required or appropriate
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for overkill
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper