nuclear option
Britishnoun
-
the use of or power to use nuclear weapons
-
the use of or power to use a measure considered to be particularly drastic
the nuclear option of a confidence vote
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.
Simply halting Stretch’s dividend is legal, but a nuclear option.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
This could be seen as a halfway house, whereby the independent disciplinary commission dodges the nuclear option of banishing Southampton from the play-offs but still applies a sporting sanction.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Compared with it being described as a "nuclear option" last month.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
“This weapon is kind of the nuclear option because its consequences are so severe,” he says.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025
There’s the nuclear option: the singles table in the restaurant.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
