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
There’s also the nuclear option: Ditch the cloud and back up your data to a local drive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
In theory, other EU countries could override Belgium and ram the initiative through with a weighted majority but that would be a nuclear option that few see as likely for now.
From Barron's • Dec. 18, 2025
There’s the nuclear option: the singles table in the restaurant.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2025
Her only power, she felt, was the "nuclear option" of firing the Post Office chairman.
From BBC • Jul. 17, 2024
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.
