nuclear winter

American  

[noo-klee-er win-ter, nyoo-] / ˈnu kli ər ˈwɪn tər, ˈnyu- /

noun

1. 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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nuclear winter British  

noun

1. a period of extremely low temperatures and little light that, it has been suggested, would occur as a result of a nuclear war

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nuclear winter Cultural  

1. 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.

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Pronunciation

See nuclear ( def. ).

Etymology

Origin of nuclear winter

First recorded in 1980–85