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

This version — in which Eli Manning serves as executive producer along with Omaha Productions’ Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ben Brown and ESPN — picks up eight years after an unforgivable mistake nukes the promising football career of hotshot quarterback Russ Holliday (Powell). —Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Sep. 2025

The second section focuses on the debate about who could have launched the nuke in the first place. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Sep. 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

Republicans in other red states like Missouri, Florida, Ohio and Indiana are also considering similar efforts to nuke Democratic seats before 2026. —Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 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