definitions

nuke

[ nook, nyook ]
/ nuk, nyuk /
Informal.
|

noun

a nuclear or thermonuclear weapon.
a nuclear power plant or nuclear reactor.
nuclear energy: to convert from coal to nuke.

adjective

of or relating to a nuclear or thermonuclear weapon or to a nuclear plant.

verb (used with object), nuked, nuk·ing.

to attack, defeat, or destroy with or as if with nuclear weapons.
Slang. to cook or bake in a microwave oven.

RELATED WORDS

A-bomb, H-bomb, incinerate, bomb, annihilate, obliterate, kill, eliminate, destroy, brown, heat, bake, microwave, zap

Nearby words

nuisance, nuisance ground, nuisance tax, nuits-saint-georges, nuj, nuke, nukes, nukespeak, nuku'alofa, nukualofa, nukus

Origin of nuke

First recorded in 1945–50; by shortening and respelling
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nukes

British Dictionary definitions for nukes

nuke

/ (njuːk) slang /

verb (tr)

to attack or destroy with nuclear weapons

noun

a nuclear bomb
a military strike with nuclear weapons
nuclear power
mainly US a nuclear power plant
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 nukes

nukes

A slang term for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons.

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.