employ a steam engine to crack a nut

Meanings:

• 1.

  HistoricalUKliteralrare
  • To use a steam engine as the means of cracking a nut.

• 2.

  UKGlobalidiomaticrarehumorous
  • To accomplish a trivial or simple task by using an excessively large, complex, or powerful method; to overcomplicate or over-engineer a solution.