overkill
To destroy something with more (nuclear) force than is required.
Noun
- A destructive capacity that exceeds that needed to destroy an enemy; especially with nuclear weapons.
- [The] increase in nuclear missiles available to the West was operationally unnecessary and would only add to the existing nuclear overkill; mixed manning was a formula for military disaster; […] - 1990, Sir William...
- Destruction beyond what is necessary to kill, especially in murder.
- Bodies that have been stabbed or shot multiple times—far beyond what was sufficient to kill the victim (overkill)— suggest that the victim and assailant knew each other, […] - 2017, James M. O'Kane, Wicked Deeds: Murder...
- For some killers with a great deal of love/hate for their victims, it [an edged weapon] is the perfect instrument for a maniacal overkill. - 2018, Lt. James Glennon, Lt. Daniel Marcou, Chuck Remsberg, Street Survival...
- "Trans people generally don't get stabbed once; they get stabbed 20 times, shot, burned and thrown into a dumpster." […] Their killers, in displaying an especially virulent form of hatred, often went from murder to...
- An unnecessary excess of whatever is needed to achieve a goal.
- 24 hours of TV coverage of the US election verged on overkill.
- Should I give you yet more homework, or would that be overkill?
- This is a live concert album, a good choice because it allows for simpler instrumental backup and avoids the studio overkill that would be inappropriate for such a forthright album. - 1984 August 4, Maida Tilchen, “Sex,...
- An unnecessary excess of disposal because of too high criteria of inspection.
Antonyms: underkill
Origin
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English kill English overkill From over- + kill.
Verb
- To destroy something with more (nuclear) force than is required.
- To dispose of too many items because of too-high criteria of inspection.
Antonyms: underkill
- To do something excessive to achieve a goal.