nuclear winter

noun

: the chilling of climate that is hypothesized to be a consequence of nuclear war and to result from the prolonged blockage of sunlight by high-altitude dust clouds produced by nuclear explosions

Examples of nuclear winter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the nuclear winter scenario, cities would need to focus on sugar beets and spinach, while near-urban plots handle wheat and carrots. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 May 2025

Tariff timeline: Tracking the evolution of Donald Trump's trade war 'Economic nuclear winter': Trump allies worried over tariffs Trump says the ultimate fruits of tariffs will be worth the pain. —Jamie L. Lareau, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2025

Such was the case with the atomic bomb, which made for grisly prophecies not only of the sudden carnage of a fiery blast but also of the prolonged suffering of a nuclear winter. —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025

Radioactive fallout and nuclear winter, in which dust and smoke blot out the sun, would mean the extinction of most life on Earth. —Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nuclear winter

• overwinter
• teleprinter
• midwinter
• reenter
• minter
• printer
• sinter
• splinter
• sprinter