nuclear winter
noun
: the chilling of climate that is hypothesized to be a consequence of nuclear war and to result from the prolonged blockage of sunlight by high-altitude dust clouds produced by nuclear explosions
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Less hot girl summer, more impending nuclear winter. 
Raven Smith, Vogue, 20 July 2022 During nuclear winter, wild foods surviving in tropical forests will include baobab trees, mopane worms, and palm weevils. Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper’s Magazine , 22 June 2022 It would also be followed by a nuclear winter scenario, in which particles of dust and ash sent skyward would enter the upper atmosphere, blocking sunlight and lowering temperatures globally for several years. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 22 Apr. 2022 Time for your weekly nuclear winter forecast: The likelihood of fallout has lessened somewhat, with chances of a full-scale nuclear war looking slim. Jason Fields, The Week, 14 Apr. 2022 The show took place on a circular runway, emulating a post-apocalyptic, nuclear winter with the models strutting against artificial elements of snow, wind, and lightning, all while donning neo-futuristic looks from the collection. Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 6 Mar. 2022 The researchers are certain that the fish died within an hour of the asteroid strike, and not as a result of the massive wildfires or the nuclear winter that came in the days and months that followed. Katie Hunt, CNN, 23 Feb. 2022 Grose herself remembers lying awake at night as a child worrying about nuclear winter. Stephanie H. Murray, The Week, 25 Jan. 2022 With baseball entering its second month of a nuclear winter launched by a Dec. 2 lockout by owners, all transactions involving players have been frozen. Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2022 See More
Raven Smith, Vogue, 20 July 2022 During nuclear winter, wild foods surviving in tropical forests will include baobab trees, mopane worms, and palm weevils. Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper’s Magazine , 22 June 2022 It would also be followed by a nuclear winter scenario, in which particles of dust and ash sent skyward would enter the upper atmosphere, blocking sunlight and lowering temperatures globally for several years. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 22 Apr. 2022 Time for your weekly nuclear winter forecast: The likelihood of fallout has lessened somewhat, with chances of a full-scale nuclear war looking slim. Jason Fields, The Week, 14 Apr. 2022 The show took place on a circular runway, emulating a post-apocalyptic, nuclear winter with the models strutting against artificial elements of snow, wind, and lightning, all while donning neo-futuristic looks from the collection. Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 6 Mar. 2022 The researchers are certain that the fish died within an hour of the asteroid strike, and not as a result of the massive wildfires or the nuclear winter that came in the days and months that followed. Katie Hunt, CNN, 23 Feb. 2022 Grose herself remembers lying awake at night as a child worrying about nuclear winter. Stephanie H. Murray, The Week, 25 Jan. 2022 With baseball entering its second month of a nuclear winter launched by a Dec. 2 lockout by owners, all transactions involving players have been frozen. Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1983, in the meaning defined above