CBRN

British

abbreviation

(of weapons or warfare) chemical, bacteriological, radiological, or nuclear

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Under these circumstances, the impact of such an attack, should it occur, would be even more destabilising…ISIL/Da’esh has recruited and continues to recruit hundreds of foreign fighters, including some with degrees in physics, chemistry and computer science, who experts believe have the ability to manufacture lethal weapons from raw substances…CBRN substances have been carried undetected into the European Union.

From Washington Times

“We judge that there is a high probability that Al Qaeda will attempt an attack using a CBRN”—chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear—“weapon within the next two years,” John Negroponte, Bush’s Ambassador to the United Nations, informed the Security Council in April, 2003.

From The New Yorker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023