The other two defenitions are bull. Colateral is civiliians getting killed by military action . Colateral when involving civilians can be the same as friendly fire.
The beauty to be found in the midst of devastation or despair. The result of a methodical and intentional approach to difficult and typically life-altering situations that yields beautiful, positive and meaningful outcomes for an intended target (the person who is experiencing misfortune).
In Palliative Medicine, we’re really adept at helping people find the collateral beauty in otherwise sorrowful situations.
When someone is having major issues in their life that are totally unrelated to you but for some insane reason they are taking it out on you. You are now collateral damage in a fight that they should be having with someone else.
When Julie caught Tommy cheating on her she became convinced that all her friends were sleeping with him. She exploded on everyone and we were all collateral damage.