nonproliferation
[non-proh-lif-uh-rey-shuh n]
- the action or practice of curbing or controlling an excessive, rapid spread: nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
- failure or refusal to proliferate, as in budding or cell division.
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- pertaining to diplomatic agreements limiting the spread of nuclear weapons.
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Origin of nonproliferation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for non-proliferation
Contemporary Examples
A nuclear-armed Iran would be a disaster for international stability and the non-proliferation regime.
It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region, and the unraveling of the non-proliferation treaty.
And withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty or kicking out U.N. nuclear inspectors would implicitly do the same thing.
That may have made sense in the 1950s and 1960s, when the outlines of the non-proliferation regime were first established.
This would reduce the threat that Iran could use the uranium for a nuclear weapon and give time for non-proliferation talks.
nonproliferation
- limitation of the production or spread of something, esp nuclear or chemical weapons
- (as modifier)a nonproliferation treaty
- failure or refusal to proliferate
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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
Word Origin and History for non-proliferation
n.
also nonproliferation, 1965, from non- + proliferation; originally in reference to nuclear weapons.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper