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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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.
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
In his novel “Libra,” Don DeLillo calls the report “the megaton novel that James Joyce would have written if he’d moved to Iowa City and lived to be a hundred.”
From The New Yorker • Apr. 1, 2019
And given how Jeff Fisher and Les Snead — the coach and GM of the Rams — have expiring contracts, Carroll and Schneider will likely have a megaton of leverage.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 23, 2016
Then came Livermore’s turn, with a device code-named Morgen- stern that was expected to yield one megaton.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
