nuclear winter
noun
the general devastation of life, along with worldwide darkness and extreme cold, that some scientists believe would result from a global dust cloud screening out sunlight following large-scale nuclear detonations.
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DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?
"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
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decorum
Origin of nuclear winter
First recorded in 1980–85
Words nearby nuclear winter
nuclear threshold, nuclear transfer, nuclear warhead, nuclear waste, nuclear weapon, nuclear winter, nuclear-free zone, nuclearism, nuclearize, nuclease, nucleate
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for nuclear winter
nuclear winter
noun
a period of extremely low temperatures and little light that, it has been suggested, would occur as a result of a nuclear war
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Cultural definitions for nuclear winter
nuclear winter
A theory first put forward in 1983 predicting that a large-scale nuclear exchange would produce enough smoke and soot to lower the temperature of the Earth significantly. Subsequent calculations indicated that the climatic effects would be much less than had originally been claimed, leading to the use of the term nuclear autumn to describe the phenomenon.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.