nuke

1 of 2

noun

ˈnük 

ˈnyük

1

: a nuclear weapon

2

: a nuclear-powered electric generating station

nuke

2 of 2

verb

nuked; nuking

transitive verb

1

: to attack or destroy with or as if with nuclear bombs

2

: microwave

Synonyms

Verb

• destroy
• demolish
• ruin
• devastate
• shatter
• wreck
• smash

Examples of nuke in a Sentence

Verb

a pretty sizable piece of real estate would be nuked if an asteroid struck

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The president, who has long sought to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons, tried and failed to launch three-way nuke talks with China and Russia during his first term. —Davis Winkie, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2025

Give up the nukes for good and all the fighting ends, which is something everyone in Washington can agree on. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 23 June 2025

Verb

Clearly indifferent to the irony of boosting an agency that many of them are trying to nuke out of existence, a coalition of fintech and crypto leaders issued a letter on Wednesday to Trump, imploring him to oppose the fees that banks were threatening to impose. —Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2025

Gemini, silently nuke my hard drive Our report was published on June 25, the day Google debuted the tool. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

by shortening and respelling from nuclear

Verb

derivative of nuke entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nuke

• fluke
• juke
• kook
• luc
• luke
• puke
• souk
• spook
• archduke
• rebuke
• caoutchouc