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kill two birds with one stone

/ˈkɪl ˈtu ˈbʌrdz wɪθ ˈwʌn ˈstoʊn/
IPA guide

Other forms: killing two birds with one stone; killed two birds with one stone; kills two birds with one stone

If you can combine returning your library books and meeting a friend for coffee in one trip, you've managed to kill two birds with one stone, which is pretty efficient.

Killing two birds with one stone sounds kind of violent; who'd want to kill birds anyway, unless they were your only food, or kept eating the seeds out of your field as soon as you planted them. That's where the expression comes from. But if you think of it as getting two things accomplished at once, that's something that will save you time and energy, and it's well worth your while. It can also be good strategy in a contest of any kind.

Definitions of kill two birds with one stone
  1. idiom
    achieve two goals with a single action
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