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Definitions

nuke

[nook, nyook] / nuk, nyuk /
NOUN
nuclear weapon
Synonyms
STRONG
A-bomb H-bomb
WEAK
atomic bomb atomic weapon doomsday machine hydrogen bomb neutron bomb
VERB
attack with nuclear weapons
Synonyms
STRONG
annihilate bomb destroy eliminate incinerate kill obliterate
WEAK
wipe out
Antonyms
STRONG
build construct create
VERB
cook
Synonyms
STRONG
bake brown heat microwave zap
WEAK
warm up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Anything short of that is merely kicking the nuke down the road.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Stopping the nuke would give them more time to gather intelligence, but we learn there’s only a 61% chance of intercepting it.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

“The implicit message is not just: ‘We could nuke Los Angeles.’

From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2024

If that’s not interesting, maybe DHS could focus more on making sure that the Pentagon’s nuke silos and surrounding local areas are not full of hacker-friendly holes.

From Salon • Dec. 31, 2023

Time to nuke up some chicken for the kids.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston