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Q clearance

American  

noun

  1. (in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) the highest level of security clearance, permitting access to secret information, documents, etc., relating to nuclear research.

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.

Diane arrived in 1948 and got Q clearance as a laborer in GE’s health estimate department.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 22, 2023

Her next documented stop in 1949 was Hanford, where she was hired by GE and held a Q clearance.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 22, 2023

At least one of the returning scientists in “the Los Alamos Club” held a top-secret Q clearance granted to those with access to nuclear secrets.

From Washington Times • Sep. 22, 2022

A top-secret clearance wasn't enough; you needed a "Q" clearance to know about the bomb.

From Slate • May 7, 2010

They fired him and stripped him of his Q clearance, the Department of Energy equivalent of top-secret clearance.

From Time Magazine Archive

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.