More effort, force, or resources than necessary to achieve something; excessive or extreme.
Military term combining 'over' and 'kill,' originally referring to capacity to destroy enemy forces multiple times over. It entered common usage during the Cold War nuclear arms race in the 1960s.
During the Cold War, both superpowers had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times—this was literally called 'overkill,' and the term became a perfect metaphor for any excess.
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