weapons of mass destruction

British  

plural noun

1.  WMD.  nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons that can cause indiscriminate death or injury on a large scale

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weapons of mass destruction Cultural  

1. Weapons that can produce devastating results when delivered in a single strike. They include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

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One of the great challenges of the twenty-first century will be to constrain the proliferation and use of such weapons, especially by terrorists (see terrorism).

Example Sentences

It also bans nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction on the moon or in Earth’s orbit.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

Later, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac refused to endorse the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that the U.S. hadn’t provided sufficient evidence that the regime was pursuing weapons of mass destruction.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

And while not a member of NATO, Israel coordinates with the security bloc through a process called the Mediterranean Dialogue, which includes work against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025

The rival drafts focused on different types of weapons, with the U.S. and Japan specifying weapons of mass destruction.

From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024

The thought of making weapons of mass destruction had never occurred to him.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin