nuke

as in to destroy
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of a pretty sizable piece of real estate would be nuked if an asteroid struck

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of nuke Glen Powell plays a hotshot quarterback who nukes his Division I career, then joins a struggling Southern football team. Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 30 Dec. 2024 Pyongyang now routinely, almost casually, threatens to nuke South Korea and the United States. Robert E. Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 30 Dec. 2024 The Anyone but You star portrays quarterback Russ Holliday, who disguises himself as a fictional person and walks onto a struggling football team in the South after bad behavior nukes his college career. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2024 Then radiation nuked anything the chemo might have missed. David Oliver, USA TODAY, 15 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for nuke
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nuke
Verb
  • An embarrassing, humbling, shocking Game 5 defeat showed that. All the same problems, the ones that destroyed Leaf team after Leaf team and ultimately ended Sheldon Keefe’s time as head coach, are emerging again at the worst possible time.
    Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 15 May 2025
  • At least 144 structures were destroyed and parts of Highway 44 were shut down, said St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 15 May 2025
Verb
  • WIth Jarren Duran on first with a one-out single in the sixth, Devers demolished Lugo’s first pitch, a 91.8 mph four-seamer.
    Gabrielle Starr, Hartford Courant, 11 May 2025
  • If anything, Gunther should absolutely demolish the beloved McAfee as a way of getting back on the right foot following a surprise submission defeat to Jey Uso at WrestleMania 40.
    Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025
Verb
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Daniella Segura, Sacbee.com, 9 May 2025
  • Sonos is very, very sorry for ruining your speaker system.
    Boone Ashworth, Wired News, 9 May 2025
Verb
  • Beyond the immediate dead, the refugees, destroyed agriculture, loss of economic capacity, all would utterly devastate China.
    Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
  • Independent cinema—arguably the heart of artistic risk and innovation, would be devastated.
    Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025
Verb
  • O’Brien ranks 22nd in NCAA history in career caused turnovers with 160, which shatters Lacey Leigh Hentz’s previous school record of 146.
    Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 10 May 2025
  • His family confirmed his identity in a GoFundMe fundraiser, which has so far raised upwards of $35,000 to support his family, shattering its $5,000 goal.
    Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 10 May 2025
Verb
  • That predecessor was wrecked May 9, 1980, when a freighter, lost in the vicious storm, broadsided the southbound span of the twin bridge and knocked down a 1,260-foot section of roadway.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 May 2025
  • They were meant to stop drivers from careening across who were wrecking his soybeans.
    Riley Robinson, Christian Science Monitor, 6 May 2025
Verb
  • Mexican soldiers wearing gas masks and white Hazmat suits smash through the remaining equipment in sweltering 96-degree Fahrenheit heat, stopping occasionally to mop up sweat pouring from their faces.
    Isobel Yeung, CNN Money, 2 May 2025
  • Two pitches later, Giolito missed with another hanging changeup and Alejandro Kirk smashed it for a solo homer.
    Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 1 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Nuke.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nuke. Accessed 21 May. 2025.

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