use a sledgehammer to crack a nut
To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an actionTo use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously.
» Use a spanner to tighten the nuts.
Zieh die Muttern mit einem Schraubenschlüssel an! — Waldelfe
Zieht die Muttern mit einem Schraubenschlüssel an! — Waldelfe
Ziehen Sie die Muttern mit einem Schraubenschlüssel an! — Waldelfe
Die Muttern mit einem Schraubenschlüssel anziehen! — Waldelfe
sundown · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(Australia, New Zealand, UK, idiomatic, informal)To use disproportionate or significantly excessive force to carry out an action; to do something overzealously.
mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen
Examples
5 sentencesUse a spanner to tighten the nuts.
deZieh die Muttern mit einem Schraubenschlüssel an! — Waldelfe
You shouldn't use a hammer to crack pine nuts open.
Isn't that like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?
deIst das nicht so, als wollte man mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen? — Pfirsichbaeumchen
They wanted to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
deSie wollten mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen. — Esperantostern
You can use a wrench to tighten the faucet nut.
Translations
5 languagesOrigin
The analogy dates back to at least the middle of the 19th century: see, for example, thisThe 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.”
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, used a sledgehammer to crack a nut| Base form | use a sledgehammer to crack a nut · to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
| Present participle | using a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
| Past simple | used a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
| Past participle | used a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
irregular
Present simpleLesson
| I, you, we, they | use a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
| he, she, it | uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
Past simpleLesson
| all persons | used a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
Present perfectLesson
| I, you, we, they | have used a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
| he, she, it | has used a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
Future simple (will)Lesson
| all persons | will use a sledgehammer to crack a nut |
Synonyms
1 synonymsAntonyms
2 antonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.