megadeath

American

[meg-uh-deth] / ˈmɛg əˌdɛθ /

noun

a unit of one million deaths: used in estimating or predicting the fatalities that would occur in a nuclear war.

megadeath British

/ ˈmɛɡəˌdɛθ /

noun

the death of a million people, esp in a nuclear war or attack

"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

Etymology

Origin of megadeath

First recorded in 1950–55; mega- + death

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.

Even the nuclear realists, busy as their minds must be with calculations of acceptable levels of megadeath, would not want to overlook anything.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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