deaths of or injury to civilians(= people not in the armed forces) or damage to buildings that are not connected to the military during a war. People say ‘collateral damage’ to avoid saying ‘innocent people being killed’.
Collateral damage caused by the drone attacks was high.无人机袭击造成的附带损害很高。
They were rightly concerned about civilian collateral damage.他们理所当然地担心平民附带损害。
(figurative)As forests are cleared for logging, woodland caribou become collateral damage (= the animals die even though they are not deliberately killed).随着森林被砍伐以供伐木，林地驯鹿会受到附带损害。