first strike

See synonyms for first strike on Thesaurus.com

noun

the initial use of nuclear weapons in a conflict, in which the attacker tries to destroy the adversary's strategic nuclear forces.

Origin of first strike

First recorded in 1960–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use first strike in a sentence

The U.S. had achieved the first-strike capability it had long been seeking.
Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick On How Obama Should Handle the Crisis In Syria | Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick | October 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for first-strike

first-strike

adjective

(of a nuclear missile) intended for use in an opening attack calculated to destroy the enemy's nuclear weapons

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

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