nuclear option
Britishnoun
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the use of or power to use nuclear weapons
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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.
It could even reach for a nuclear option: abolishing the draft altogether, and making incoming rookies free agents.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
There’s also the nuclear option: Ditch the cloud and back up your data to a local drive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
"I never would have expected they would hit the nuclear option of firing so many of us in one go. It does highlight the need for unions."
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025
“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.
