ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Overkill (term)

Overkill is a word we use when we do something more than we really need to. Imagine if you were really thirsty and wanted a little bit of water to drink. If someone gave you a huge bucket of water, that would be overkill because you don't need that much water.

When people say something is "overkill," they mean that it's too much, too big, or too extreme for the situation. Like if you were playing a game with your friends and one person used all their strongest attacks just to beat a really easy enemy. That would be overkill because they used too much power on something that didn't need it.

So overkill means doing too much, going too far, or being too extreme for the situation. It's like using a hammer to squash a fly- it works, but it's way more than you needed to do.