collateral damage

Origin

collateral damage

noun
1.
the killing of civilians in a military attack.
2.
any damage incidental to an activity.

Origin:
1985–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collateral damage is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
collateral damage
 
n
military unintentional damage to civil property and civilian casualties, caused by military operations

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  collateral damage
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  unintentional harm to persons or property as the result of military action
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

collateral damage
by 1873 in legal cases; in modern use, generally a euphemism for "the coincidental killing of civilians," U.S. coinage, c.1968, at first generally with ref. to nuclear weapons.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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