overkill
American Heritage Dictionary:
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o·ver·kill
(ō'vər-kĭl') 
n.
To destroy (an enemy or enemy target) with more nuclear force than necessary.
n.
- Destructive nuclear capacity exceeding the amount needed to destroy an enemy.
- Excessive killing.
- An excess of what is necessary or appropriate for a particular end: "government overkill in dealing with dissent" (Jesse Unruh).
To destroy (an enemy or enemy target) with more nuclear force than necessary.
Barron's Marketing Dictionary:
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overkill
In general: expensive promotional effort that produces diminishing returns because it repels rather than attracts consumer interest.
Direct marketing: records on a list incorrectly identified as dupli- cates by a computer program that doesn't accurately reflect the objec- tives of the list owner. For example, the program may be written to combine all records for the same household or business even though the list owner would like to send promotions to each individual.
Barron's Business Dictionary:
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overkill
Expensive promotional effort that produces diminishing returns because it repels rather than attracts consumer interest.
| Overissue, Overimprovement, Overheating | |
| Overpayment, Overproduction, Override |
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'overkill'
- Types and Techniques of Warfare - overkill: excessive destructive capability beyond what could be required for victory; use of such capability
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Overkill
For other uses, see Overkill (disambiguation).
Overkill is the use of excessive force or action that goes further than is necessary to achieve its goal. It implies that, while the goal was accomplished, there was collateral damage as a result.
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Nuclear weapons
Overkill is especially used to refer to a destructive nuclear capacity exceeding the amount needed to destroy an enemy[1]
The term is attested from 1946[2] and was in common use during the Cold War era, referring to the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both nations possessed (US and Russia still possess) more than enough nuclear weapons to destroy one another many times over — nuclear overkill. The term for this was "pounding the rubble" or, as military officers sometimes joked, "pounding the ruble".
In media
Film
In a critical sense, overkill might be considered a close relative of overacting and overdramatizing. For example, in most modern horror films, such as Friday the 13th, most of the killing is quickly clichéd, and is always overkill.
Video games
Overkill is a common feature in many video games. In some games, such as Final Fantasy X, "overkill" is made part of the battle system; This occurs in the game when you land an attack with more damage than the monster your fighting has remain (Example: Monster A has 10 health remain and you deal 100 damage with your attack. This will trigger a sign over the dying monster "Over kill") When Over kill has been activated you may give bonus rewards after battle. In many first-person shooters, starting with Doom, overkilling a character will result in gibbing that character. In the game Halo 3, a medal named Overkill is awarded for killing four enemies in a short period of time. Overkill has also been used in the game Call of Duty 4 as a perk which represents having two primary weapons at the same time.
Music
Motörhead has a song called "Overkill", from an eponymous album. A 1980s thrash metal band from New Jersey and a speed metal band from Los Angeles also took that name, in a period when names referring to war and murder were popular, e.g. Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth (from a military term for a million deaths).
Notes
- ^ <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/overkill>.
- ^ "overkill." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 31 Mar. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/overkill>.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Overkill
Dansk (Danish)
n. - urimelig overdrivelse, overmål, en større ødelæggelseskraft end hvad der er nødvendig
v. tr. - overdrive urimeligt
Nederlands (Dutch)
overmaat (m.n. van wreedheid), overkill, meer doden/vernietigen dan nodig
Français (French)
n. - (Mil) capacité de surextermination, (fig) matraquage
v. tr. - détruire (l'ennemi) en utilisant un surarmement nucléaire
Deutsch (German)
n. - (Mil.) Overkill, übertriebene Maßnahme
v. - mit unnötiger Härte vorgehen
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (στρατ.) υπερβολική δυνατότητα εξοντώσεως από πυρηνικό όπλο, (μτφ.) υπερβολή, υπερβολικός ζήλος
v. - σκοτώνω περισσότερους από ό, τι χρειάζεται
Italiano (Italian)
eccesso, reazione esagerata, uso di mezzi oltre il necessario
Português (Portuguese)
n. - exagero (m)
v. - exagerar
Русский (Russian)
многократное уничтожение, перевыполнение
Español (Spanish)
n. - capacidad de destrucción superior a la de las fuerzas enemigas
v. tr. - aniquilar por completo
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (mil)överdödningsförmåga, fördärv, undergång
v. - bruka mer våld än nöden kräver
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
过度的杀伤威力, 过度地杀伤
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 過度的殺傷威力
v. tr. - 過度地殺傷
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 과잉 살상력, 지나친 경제정책
v. tr. - 과잉살육 하다
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) تدمير (فعل) يسرف في القتل او التدمير
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - המידה בה יכולת ההשמדה עולה על הנחוץ לניצחון או להשמדה, הפרזה (בשימוש בכח)
v. tr. - הרס או הרג יותר מהנחוץ
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Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Barron's Marketing Dictionary
Dictionary of Marketing Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Barron's Business Dictionary
Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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McGraw-Hill Slang Dictionary
McGraw-Hill's Essential American Slang Dictionary. Copyright © 2007 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Overkill.
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Mentioned in
Metal Massacre, Vols. 2 & 3
(1991 Album by Various Artists)
Overkill: Videoscope
(1991 Music Film)
Underground USA Vol. 3: Heavy Metal
(198z Music Film)
Three Classic Albums: Overkill/Bomber/Ace of Spades
(1998 Album by Motörhead)
» More