noun
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one million tons
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mt. an explosive power, esp of a nuclear weapon, equal to the power of one million tons of TNT
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Origin of megaton
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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.
We know because in 1965 an A-4 rolled off the USS Ticonderoga, leaving a bomb capable of 1 megaton yield at the bottom of the Philippine Sea, where it remains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
A megaton is the equivalent of 1 million tons of TNT.
From Washington Times ● May 18, 2022
Most nuclear weapons today are variable-yield, or “dial-a-yield,” providing a set amount of explosive power that can range from fractions of a kiloton to multiples of a megaton.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 10, 2022
The old B61 bombs had the explosive power of 1 megaton; the new ones have “dial-a-yield” options, ranging from 340 kilotons down to a fraction of a kiloton.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2019
The cometary impact and fireball would simulate all effects of a one- megaton nuclear burst, including the mushroom cloud, with two exceptions: there would be no gamma radiation or radioactive fallout.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
