| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈoverˈkill, v. orig. U.S.
(stress var.)
[over- 27.]
trans. and intr. To kill or destroy to a greater extent than is necessary. Also fig.
1946Sun (Baltimore) 17 Jan. 4/5 It pointed all, or a great majority, of the guns at a single object. This method resulted in missing most of the in-coming attackers and of over-killing those which could be hit. 1958Lincoln (Nebraska) Evening Jrnl. 8 Aug. 4/4 The argument that you do not need the power to ‘overkill’, if you already have H-bombs [etc.]. 1965New Statesman 30 Apr. 690/3 His magnanimity towards those who ordained that Dresden should be overkilled. 1967Economist 23 Dec. 1227/3 Mr Humphrey's oratory..overkilled the McCarthy ridicule of what the Senator assails as an immoral and, equally unforgiveably, an irrational war. 1968Punch 27 Nov. 751 We maintained armed forces to defend a non-existent Empire and spent uselessly and prodigally in a vain attempt to keep abreast of the titans in capacity to kill and overkill. 1971B. Callison Plague of Sailors iv. 157 When you intend to decimate a whole nation, why get puritanical about over⁓killing a few dozen more?
▪ II. ˈoverkill, n. orig. U.S.
[over- 29.]
a. The capacity, esp. of nuclear weapons, to kill and effect destruction in excess of strategic requirements. Also attrib.
1958Time 17 Mar. 25/2 A word coming more and more into Pentagon usage is ‘overkill’—a blunt but descriptive term implying a power to destroy a military target not once but many times more than necessary. 1959Times 18 May 7/2 The Chiefs of Staff of the Navy and the Army..told Congress..that this ‘over-kill’ capacity is unnecessary. 1962Economist 30 June 1307/1 It is military nonsense for Britain and France to produce nuclear weapons, when the United States has an ‘overkill’ of those weapons coming out of both its ears. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation 280 Overkill by a factor of ten or more, so that even the blind..would understand the situation. 1968W. Ash Ride Paper Tiger xii. 191 There's no point in plastering a target which has already been demolished. Anyone carrying the weapons you do has to be a bit careful about the problem of overkill. 1971Guardian 27 Sept. 13/3 The nuclear club reached the point of H-bomb overkill. 1976J. Cox On Warpath 7/1 A mere pin-head of a man-made poison could kill everyone alive today. Military strategists talk of ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Overkill’.
b. transf. and fig.
1965New Scientist 24 June 841/1 There is only a limited number of whales in the sea and the delegates must decide between an irrational short-term overkill or long-term conservation. 1967New Yorker 1 Apr. 94 Its producer..is a misguided champion of cinematic overkill: twice as large is twice as good, twice as loud is twice as convincing. 1968Guardian 20 Mar. 10/1 Just how much Mr Jenkins ought to cut consumption is arguable. The world monetary crisis provides a strong psychological reason for going for ‘overkill’. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 7/5 The..social and economic consequences..ascribed to ‘advertising overkill’. 1973Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Dec. 1555/3 It is astonishing, in these days of critical overkill, that Peter Wolfe's little book is the only one yet written on Rebecca West. 1975Listener 3 July 22/3, I have only the smallest objection to the [Wimbledon] coverage, apart from the serious danger of overkill (three hours daily on BBC 1, over six on BBC 2). 1976Times 30 Jan. 17/2 What point is there in producing things if over-kill taxation means that nobody will buy them? |