megaton

noun

mega·ton ˈme-gə-ˌtən

: an explosive force equivalent to that of one million tons of TNT

Example Sentences

an atomic explosion with a force of several megatons

Recent Examples on the Web Tactical nuclear weapons vary in yields from fractions of 1 kiloton to about 50 kilotons, compared with strategic nuclear weapons, which have yields that range from about 100 kilotons to more than a megaton. —

USA Today, 17 Oct. 2022 Scientists have long believed the Chicxulub asteroid smacked Earth near the Gulf of Mexico, causing about a 100-million-megaton blast devastating enough to erase the dinosaurs from Earth. —

Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 19 Aug. 2022 The use of megaton bombs to kill individuals meant, of course, that many hundreds of thousands of other people would also be killed. —

Jessica T. Mathews, The New York Review of Books, 20 Aug. 2020 The use of megaton bombs to kill individuals meant, of course, that many hundreds of thousands of other people would also be killed. —

Jessica T. Mathews, The New York Review of Books, 20 Aug. 2020 Nuclear war planners anticipated the bunkers, which were dug into solid rock or embedded in concrete, with massive thermonuclear bombs of at least a megaton (1,000 kilotons) of TNT. —

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 6 Apr. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'megaton.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.