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nuclear winter

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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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Nearby words

  1. nuclear transfer,
  2. nuclear warhead,
  3. nuclear waste,
  4. nuclear weapon,
  5. nuclear weapons,
  6. nuclear-free zone,
  7. nuclearism,
  8. nuclearize,
  9. nuclease,
  10. nucleate

Origin of nuclear winter

First recorded in 1980–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture 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.