atomic bomb

noun

1
: a bomb whose violent explosive power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (such as plutonium or uranium) by neutrons in a very rapid chain reaction

called also atom bomb

2
: a nuclear weapon (such as a hydrogen bomb)

Examples of atomic bomb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The process is much different than fission, the nuclear reaction that powers current nuclear reactors and the atomic bomb. Laura Schulte, jsonline.com, 2 July 2025 During World War II, Pickard worked on the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb. Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025 Still, some experts suspect that the 1908 Tunguska Event—an explosion that occurred over a remote area of Siberia and flattened 80 million trees in a blast 1,000 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan—may have been caused by a Beta Taurid meteor. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 July 2025 Trump dug in on his dismissal of the assessment's findings in his comments at a NATO summit in the Netherlands on June 25, comparing the impact of the strikes to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, 26 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for atomic bomb

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of atomic bomb was in 1914

Cite this Entry

“Atomic bomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atomic%20bomb. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

atomic bomb

noun
1
: a bomb whose violent explosive power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (as plutonium or uranium) by neutrons

called also atom bomb

2

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