"use a sledgehammer to crack a nut" meaning in English

{
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      "name": "nb..."
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  "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"
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    },
    {
      "form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
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      "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"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
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          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with raw sortkeys",
          "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʌt"
    },
    {
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
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        "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": [
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      "form": "uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
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        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
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        "participle",
        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "used a sledgehammer to crack a nut",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
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      "args": {
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      "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 entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
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        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "New Zealand English",
        "Pages with raw sortkeys",
        "Rhymes:English/ʌt",
        "Rhymes:English/ʌt/9 syllables",
        "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʌt"
    },
    {
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "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"
}