employ a steam engine to crack a nut

To use excessive, overcomplicated, or extravagant means or force to accomplish something relatively minor or simple. With this new system of issuing licenses, the government has employed a steam engine to crack a nut: four separate departments now handle each stage of an application, when a single department could easily process applications from start to finish.

See also: crack, employ, engine, nut, steam

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Bautista	bow-TEES-tah	Spanish
Preethi	-	Indian, Kannada, Tamil
Manasses	-	Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Fortunato	-	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Jannik	-	Danish
Sjurd	-	Norwegian