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

• annihilate
• cream
• decimate
• demolish
• desolate
• destroy
• devastate
• do in
• extinguish
• pull down
• pulverize
• raze
• rub out
• ruin
• shatter
• smash
• tear down
• total
• vaporize
• waste
• wrack
• wreck

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

On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court gave Murphy and everyone else who may be concerned about a second Trump presidency reason to worry, not only about a potential Trump decision to launch America’s nukes, but also about so many other uses of the military that up till now have been unfathomable. —Andrew Turley, Sun Sentinel, 16 July 2024

Each nation has too many nukes already, so why not start reducing them in a joint effort. —William Lambers, Hartford Courant, 23 May 2024

Verb

Biden can nuke Israel, choose Louis Farrakhan as his running mate and ban kosher slaughter in the U.S. and still get 70% of the Jewish vote. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2024

Castro, who had horrified Khrushchev by proposing to nuke the United States, later strenuously denied having done so. —Sergey Radchenko, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2023

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