overkill

1. literallyuncountablegovernmentA 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 Godfrey Fothergill Jackson, Britain's Defence Dilemma: An Inside View : Rethinking British Defence Policy in the Post-imperial Era, B. T. Batsford Limited

2. literallyuncountableDestruction beyond what is necessary to kill, especially in 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 II: Tactics for Deadly Force Encounters, Calibre Press, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   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 in America, Routledge, →ISBN

   "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 overkill, attempting to obliterate their victims, perhaps in an attempt to erase them completely, […]

   2020, Laurel Westbrook, Unlivable Lives: Violence and Identity in Transgender Activism, →ISBN, page 101

3. broadlyuncountableAn unnecessary excess of whatever is needed to achieve a goal.

   24 hours of TV coverage of the US election verged on overkill.

   2 more examples

   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, Politics, and Good Vibes”, in Gay Community News, page 8

4. uncountablebusinessAn unnecessary excess of disposal because of too high criteria of inspection.

   Antonyms: underkill

present singular third person overkills · participle present overkilling · participle past overkilled · past overkilled

1. transitiveTo destroy something with more (nuclear) force than is required.
2. businessTo dispose of too many items because of too-high criteria of inspection.

   Antonyms: underkill

3. To do something excessive to achieve a goal.