thermonuclear

American  

[thur-moh-noo-klee-er, -nyoo-, -kyuh-ler] / ˌθɜr moʊˈnu kli ər, -ˈnyu-, -kyə lər /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or involving a thermonuclear reaction.

   thermonuclear power.

---

thermonuclear British  

/ ˌθɜːməʊˈnjuːklɪə /

adjective

1. involving nuclear fusion

   a thermonuclear reaction

   thermonuclear energy

2. involving thermonuclear weapons

   a thermonuclear war

---

thermonuclear Scientific  

/ thûr′mō-no̅o̅′klē-ər /

1. Relating to the fusion of atomic nuclei at high temperatures or to the energy produced in this way.

2. Relating to weapons based on nuclear fusion, especially as distinguished from those based on nuclear fission.

---

thermonuclear Cultural  

1. A term referring to devices that use nuclear fusion, the fusion of atomic nuclei, to produce energy at very high temperatures. (See hydrogen bomb.)

---

Pronunciation

See nuclear.

Etymology

Origin of thermonuclear

First recorded in 1935–40; thermo- + nuclear

Example Sentences

“In the thermonuclear age, any misjudgment on either side about the intentions of the other could rain more devastation in several hours than has been wrought in all the wars of human history.”

From Literature

And it's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

From BBC

During his Nobel Peace Prize speech, Martin Luther King Jr. declared: “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction.”

From Salon

Sure enough, when director Christopher Nolan asked him to emulate the sound of the world’s first thermonuclear device for “Oppenheimer,” King had his epic-scaled 2013 Chelyabinsk asteroid reference close at hand.

From Los Angeles Times

One big challenge: Jackson needed to construct physical visualizations of subatomic activity leading up to the world’s first thermonuclear bomb explosion.

From Los Angeles Times