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
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
The annoyance is really the side effect or collateral damage to a presumably reasonable activity.
—Caleb Harris, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
That said, for any team, losing a lot of games (and by wide margins too) can cause collateral damage, especially to veteran players who grow impatient with losing and potentially with young players who could fall into bad habits.
—Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
NotPetya underscores the potential for collateral damage in cyberattacks and the need for proactive incident response plans that go beyond mere technical recovery.
—Francis Dinha, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for collateral damage 
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Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
The annoyance is really the side effect or collateral damage to a presumably reasonable activity.
—Caleb Harris, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
That said, for any team, losing a lot of games (and by wide margins too) can cause collateral damage, especially to veteran players who grow impatient with losing and potentially with young players who could fall into bad habits.
—Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
NotPetya underscores the potential for collateral damage in cyberattacks and the need for proactive incident response plans that go beyond mere technical recovery.
—Francis Dinha, Forbes, 14 Oct. 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 16 Dec. 2024.
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