See use a sledgehammer to crack a nut on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "In Two Parts: Including the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Two Hundred and Forty Three of the Sages and Heroes are Presented in Due Form: And Many Others are Named Incidentally."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
}
],
"etymology_text": "The analogy dates back to at least the middle of the 19th century: see, for example, this quotation from Levi Carroll Judson’s work Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution (1851): “He at once became the nucleus around which a band of patriots gathered and formed a nut too hard to be cracked by the sledgehammer of monarchy.”",
"forms": [
{
"form": "uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut (third-person singular simple present uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut, present participle using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, simple past and past participle used a sledgehammer to crack a nut)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"use"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "shoot an elephant with a BB gun"
},
{
"word": "kill an elephant with a BB gun"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "New Zealand English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Czech translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Danish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Italian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Kannada translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Telugu translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Thai translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Welsh translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nuts",
"orig": "en:Nuts",
"parents": [
"Foods",
"Plants",
"Eating",
"Food and drink",
"Lifeforms",
"Human behaviour",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Human",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Tools",
"orig": "en:Tools",
"parents": [
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "[1983 January 20, Lord Diplock [i.e., Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock], Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, House of Lords, “Regina, respondent, and Goldstein, appellant [[1983] 1 W.L.R. 151]”, in The Weekly Law Reports, volume 1, London: Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 155:",
"text": "This last mentioned consideration involves the concept in Community law (derived principally from German law) called \"proportionality\". In plain English it means \"You must not use a steam hammer to crack a nut, if a nutcracker would do.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010 September 21, “‘A sledgehammer to crack a nut’: Three police officers and a patrol car rush to … children playing football in the street”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-06:",
"text": "Today, Mr [Anthony] Worthington, an engineer, said: 'Sending three officers over simply to give a warning about kids playing football in the street is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.[…]'",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2022 December 17, Martin Evans, quoting Mike Barton et al., “Law to curb Just Stop Oil protests ‘a sledgehammer to crack a nut’, say ex-police chiefs”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-18:",
"text": "In our view the Public Order Bill is an attempt by the Government to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. At a time when we should be focusing on rebuilding trust in the police, this Bill risks stoking further mistrust and undermining their vital role in protecting the public.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously."
],
"id": "en-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut-en-verb-glSvb2h2",
"links": [
[
"use",
"use#Verb"
],
[
"disproportionate",
"disproportionate#Adjective"
],
[
"significantly",
"significantly"
],
[
"excessive",
"excessive"
],
[
"force",
"force#Noun"
],
[
"carry out",
"carry out"
],
[
"action",
"action#Noun"
],
[
"do",
"do#Verb"
],
[
"overzealously",
"overzealously"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, Australia, British, New Zealand, idiomatic, informal) To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "break a butterfly upon the wheel"
},
{
"word": "bring a knife to a gunfight"
},
{
"word": "overkill"
},
{
"word": "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"Canada",
"US"
],
"word": "use a sledgehammer to kill a gnat"
}
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"British",
"New-Zealand",
"idiomatic",
"informal",
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "高射炮打蚊子 (gāoshèpào dǎ wénzi, literally “to use an anti-aircraft gun to hit a mosquito”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "割雞焉用牛刀"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "割鸡焉用牛刀 (gējī yān yòng niúdāo, literally “when killing a chicken, why use an ox cleaver?”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "牛鼎烹雞"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "牛鼎烹鸡 (niúdǐngpēngjī, literally “to use a cauldron for a cow to cook a chicken”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "jít s kanónem na vrabce"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyde spurve med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "met een kanon op een mug schieten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "ampua tykillä kärpästä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "écraser une mouche avec un marteau"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "tuer une mouche avec un canon"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "sparare agli uccellini col cannone"
},
{
"code": "kn",
"lang": "Kannada",
"note": "ಗುಬ್ಬಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಸ್ತ್ರ (gubbi mēle brahmāstra, literally “to strike a sparrow with the brahmāstra”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyte spurv med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyte sporv med kanonar"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "strzelać z armaty do muchy"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "пали́ть из пу́шки по воробья́м impf (palítʹ iz púški po vorobʹjám, literally “to fire a cannon at sparrows”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "matar moscas a cañonazos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skjuta sparvar med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"note": "పిచ్చుక మీద బ్రహ్మాస్త్రము (piccuka mīda brahmāstramu, literally “to strike a sparrow with the brahmāstra”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"note": "ขี่ช้างจับตั๊กแตน (kìi-cháang-jàp-dták-gà-dtɛɛn, literally “to ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "cymryd gordd i dorri cneuen"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "to llosgi'r gwely i ladd y chwannen"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Philip Livingston"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌjuːz‿ə ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə tə ˌkɹæk‿ə ˈnʌt/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌjuz‿ə ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ tə ˌkɹæk‿ə ˈnʌt/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c5/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ʌt"
}
],
"word": "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "In Two Parts: Including the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Two Hundred and Forty Three of the Sages and Heroes are Presented in Due Form: And Many Others are Named Incidentally."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
}
],
"etymology_text": "The analogy dates back to at least the middle of the 19th century: see, for example, this quotation from Levi Carroll Judson’s work Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution (1851): “He at once became the nucleus around which a band of patriots gathered and formed a nut too hard to be cracked by the sledgehammer of monarchy.”",
"forms": [
{
"form": "uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut (third-person singular simple present uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut, present participle using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, simple past and past participle used a sledgehammer to crack a nut)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"use"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "break a butterfly upon the wheel"
},
{
"word": "bring a knife to a gunfight"
},
{
"word": "overkill"
},
{
"word": "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "shoot an elephant with a BB gun"
},
{
"word": "kill an elephant with a BB gun"
}
],
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"British English",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English informal terms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"New Zealand English",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/ʌt",
"Rhymes:English/ʌt/9 syllables",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Danish translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Kannada translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations",
"Terms with Telugu translations",
"Terms with Thai translations",
"Terms with Welsh translations",
"en:Nuts",
"en:Tools"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "[1983 January 20, Lord Diplock [i.e., Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock], Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, House of Lords, “Regina, respondent, and Goldstein, appellant [[1983] 1 W.L.R. 151]”, in The Weekly Law Reports, volume 1, London: Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 155:",
"text": "This last mentioned consideration involves the concept in Community law (derived principally from German law) called \"proportionality\". In plain English it means \"You must not use a steam hammer to crack a nut, if a nutcracker would do.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010 September 21, “‘A sledgehammer to crack a nut’: Three police officers and a patrol car rush to … children playing football in the street”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-06:",
"text": "Today, Mr [Anthony] Worthington, an engineer, said: 'Sending three officers over simply to give a warning about kids playing football in the street is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.[…]'",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2022 December 17, Martin Evans, quoting Mike Barton et al., “Law to curb Just Stop Oil protests ‘a sledgehammer to crack a nut’, say ex-police chiefs”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-18:",
"text": "In our view the Public Order Bill is an attempt by the Government to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. At a time when we should be focusing on rebuilding trust in the police, this Bill risks stoking further mistrust and undermining their vital role in protecting the public.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously."
],
"links": [
[
"use",
"use#Verb"
],
[
"disproportionate",
"disproportionate#Adjective"
],
[
"significantly",
"significantly"
],
[
"excessive",
"excessive"
],
[
"force",
"force#Noun"
],
[
"carry out",
"carry out"
],
[
"action",
"action#Noun"
],
[
"do",
"do#Verb"
],
[
"overzealously",
"overzealously"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, Australia, British, New Zealand, idiomatic, informal) To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"Canada",
"US"
],
"word": "use a sledgehammer to kill a gnat"
}
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"British",
"New-Zealand",
"idiomatic",
"informal",
"intransitive"
],
"wikipedia": [
"Philip Livingston"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌjuːz‿ə ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə tə ˌkɹæk‿ə ˈnʌt/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌjuz‿ə ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ tə ˌkɹæk‿ə ˈnʌt/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c5/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/En-au-use_a_sledgehammer_to_crack_a_nut.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ʌt"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "高射炮打蚊子 (gāoshèpào dǎ wénzi, literally “to use an anti-aircraft gun to hit a mosquito”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "割雞焉用牛刀"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "割鸡焉用牛刀 (gējī yān yòng niúdāo, literally “when killing a chicken, why use an ox cleaver?”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "牛鼎烹雞"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "牛鼎烹鸡 (niúdǐngpēngjī, literally “to use a cauldron for a cow to cook a chicken”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "jít s kanónem na vrabce"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyde spurve med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "met een kanon op een mug schieten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "ampua tykillä kärpästä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "écraser une mouche avec un marteau"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "tuer une mouche avec un canon"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "sparare agli uccellini col cannone"
},
{
"code": "kn",
"lang": "Kannada",
"note": "ಗುಬ್ಬಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಸ್ತ್ರ (gubbi mēle brahmāstra, literally “to strike a sparrow with the brahmāstra”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyte spurv med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skyte sporv med kanonar"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "strzelać z armaty do muchy"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "пали́ть из пу́шки по воробья́м impf (palítʹ iz púški po vorobʹjám, literally “to fire a cannon at sparrows”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "matar moscas a cañonazos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "skjuta sparvar med kanoner"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"note": "పిచ్చుక మీద బ్రహ్మాస్త్రము (piccuka mīda brahmāstramu, literally “to strike a sparrow with the brahmāstra”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"note": "ขี่ช้างจับตั๊กแตน (kìi-cháang-jàp-dták-gà-dtɛɛn, literally “to ride an elephant to catch a grasshopper”)",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "cymryd gordd i dorri cneuen"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "to use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action",
"word": "to llosgi'r gwely i ladd y chwannen"
}
],
"word": "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
}
Download raw JSONL data for use a sledgehammer to crack a nut meaning in All languages combined (10.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.