nuclear option
Britishnoun
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the use of or power to use nuclear weapons
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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.
MIAMI—Miami-Dade County’s mayor is pursuing the nuclear option in a battle over a marine terminal on tony Fisher Island that supplies fuel for cruise and cargo ships at PortMiami.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
This could be seen as a halfway house, whereby the independent disciplinary commission dodges the nuclear option of banishing Southampton from the play-offs but still applies a sporting sanction.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
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
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.
