nuclear option
Britishnoun
-
the use of or power to use nuclear weapons
-
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
“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
With political challenges pushing his back against the wall, Yoon went for the nuclear option - a move that few, if any, could have predicted.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2024
Asked in a radio interview about a hypothetical nuclear option, Eliyahu had replied: "That's one way."
From Reuters • Nov. 7, 2023
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.
