first strike

noun

: a preemptive nuclear attack
first-strike adjective

Examples of first strike in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
After the first strike on the hospital, people rushed to treat the wounded while journalists arrived to report. Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025 The photos, retrieved from her camera on Wednesday, show people walking up the staircase after it was damaged in the first strike while others look out the windows of the main health facility in southern Gaza. Edith M. Lederer, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025 Video shot from across the street by pan-Arab channel Al Ghad showed people climbing the stairwell just after the first strike, past walls with chunks shorn off -- followed by the boom of the second strike, a huge plume of smoke and a heap of wreckage. Arkansas Online, 26 Aug. 2025 The journalists had arrived after the first strike close behind to witness and report what had happened. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 25 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for first strike

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of first strike was in 1956

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“First strike.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/first%20strike. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!