Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Unintended damage, injuries, or deaths caused by an action, especially unintended civilian casualties caused by a military operation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (euphemism) inadvertent casualties and destruction inflicted on civilians in the course of military operations
Etymologies
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Examples
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sonofgroucho commented on the word collateral damage
A bit like "friendly fire".
February 10, 2007