nuke
1 of 2noun
ˈnük 
ˈnyük
1
: a nuclear weapon
2
: a nuclear-powered electric generating station
nuke
2 of 2verb
nuked; nuking
transitive verb
1
: to attack or destroy with or as if with nuclear bombs
2
: microwave
Synonyms
Verb
- annihilate
- cream
- decimate
- demolish
- desolate
- destroy
- devastate
- do in
- extinguish
- pull down
- pulverize
- raze
- rub out
- ruin
- shatter
- smash
- tear down
- total
- vaporize
- waste
- wrack
- wreck
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb a pretty sizable piece of real estate would be nuked if an asteroid struck
Recent Examples on the Web
ABC News, 1 May 2022 That’s another reason to fear Putin’s deployment of a tactical nuke would lead to the West retaliating. Jordan Michael Smith, The New Republic, 7 Mar. 2022 Consider a 1 megaton nuke, reportedly the size of a warhead on a modern Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2022 The administration of President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and doubled down on missile-defense spending in order to develop weapons capable of stopping an Iranian or North Korean nuke. David Axe, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2021 And Iran offers him the best opportunity not only to keep Tehran from getting a nuke but to do so in a way that might make Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin think twice about their own aggressive plans. William Mcgurn, WSJ, 3 Jan. 2022 Four decades later, China might be taking its own swing at the idea of a fractional, orbital nuke. David Axe, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2021 Israel got a nuke, and with the help of just about every other Western power, Israel has striven to be a state that does bad things to other people and not a state to which bad things happen. Noah Kulwin, The New Republic, 24 June 2021 In this case, the task involves cleaning out a Las Vegas casino vault before the government drops a nuke on the city to eradicate the zombie threat. Brian Lowry, CNN, 13 May 2021 Milan Polk, Men's Health, 13 Sep. 2022 Bluntly put, in a trifecta, the players are going to have to leave out some runners who deeply threaten to nuke their tickets. Guy Martin, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 That led to a three-hole playoff at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., between Thomas and Zalatoris, two wiry Americans who nuke golf balls despite their slight frames. Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 23 May 2022 Moscow has long threatened to nuke Britain during tense moments dating back to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Michael Peck, Forbes, 3 May 2022 Houck, the co-editor and co-publisher of Edible Alaska, said salmon is such a cook-friendly food that there’s no need to nuke it. Chris Bieri, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Apr. 2022 And Joe Manchin and his moderate colleagues seem unwilling to nuke the filibuster. Patrick Caldwell, The New Republic, 6 Dec. 2021 The £350 million Brexit bus causes a roadblock; former Tory Rory Stewart’s awkward selfies are ready to print in Snappy Snaps; and Labour party leader Keir Starmer steels himself to nuke Geronimo the alpaca. Will Pritchard, Wired, 13 Nov. 2021 News that China has tested an orbital nuclear bombardment system has created fears that China could nuke America from space. Michael Peck, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2021 See More
Noun
What would happen if a chemical weapon was dropped on Ukraine and/or a short-range tactical nuke? ABC News, 1 May 2022 That’s another reason to fear Putin’s deployment of a tactical nuke would lead to the West retaliating. Jordan Michael Smith, The New Republic, 7 Mar. 2022 Consider a 1 megaton nuke, reportedly the size of a warhead on a modern Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2022 The administration of President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and doubled down on missile-defense spending in order to develop weapons capable of stopping an Iranian or North Korean nuke. David Axe, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2021 And Iran offers him the best opportunity not only to keep Tehran from getting a nuke but to do so in a way that might make Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin think twice about their own aggressive plans. William Mcgurn, WSJ, 3 Jan. 2022 Four decades later, China might be taking its own swing at the idea of a fractional, orbital nuke. David Axe, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2021 Israel got a nuke, and with the help of just about every other Western power, Israel has striven to be a state that does bad things to other people and not a state to which bad things happen. Noah Kulwin, The New Republic, 24 June 2021 In this case, the task involves cleaning out a Las Vegas casino vault before the government drops a nuke on the city to eradicate the zombie threat. Brian Lowry, CNN, 13 May 2021 Verb
The zombies are fast, the money is in the millions, and the government is set to nuke Las Vegas in 32 hours. Milan Polk, Men's Health, 13 Sep. 2022 Bluntly put, in a trifecta, the players are going to have to leave out some runners who deeply threaten to nuke their tickets. Guy Martin, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 That led to a three-hole playoff at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., between Thomas and Zalatoris, two wiry Americans who nuke golf balls despite their slight frames. Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 23 May 2022 Moscow has long threatened to nuke Britain during tense moments dating back to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Michael Peck, Forbes, 3 May 2022 Houck, the co-editor and co-publisher of Edible Alaska, said salmon is such a cook-friendly food that there’s no need to nuke it. Chris Bieri, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Apr. 2022 And Joe Manchin and his moderate colleagues seem unwilling to nuke the filibuster. Patrick Caldwell, The New Republic, 6 Dec. 2021 The £350 million Brexit bus causes a roadblock; former Tory Rory Stewart’s awkward selfies are ready to print in Snappy Snaps; and Labour party leader Keir Starmer steels himself to nuke Geronimo the alpaca. Will Pritchard, Wired, 13 Nov. 2021 News that China has tested an orbital nuclear bombardment system has created fears that China could nuke America from space. Michael Peck, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
by shortening and respelling from nuclear
Verb
derivative of nuke entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1
nuking
verb
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of a pretty sizable piece of real estate would be nuked if an asteroid struck Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- destroying
- demolishing
- ruining
- wrecking
- shattering
- smashing
- devastating
- damaging
- annihilating
- overcoming
- wasting
- vaporizing
- pulverizing
- decimating
- extinguishing
- razing
- killing
- eroding
- ravaging
- removing
- dismantling
- defeating
- creaming
- blasting
- marring
- crushing
- crippling
- breaking
- desolating
- conquering
- subduing
- wracking
- pulling down
- totaling
- licking
- tearing down
- clobbering
- dissolving
- disintegrating
- whipping
- injuring
- mutilating
- trimming
- spoiling
- doing in
- harming
- mastering
- obliterating
- rubbing out
- eradicating
- mangling
- slaughtering
- beating
- assassinating
- exterminating
- impairing
- thrashing
- dynamiting
- trouncing
- defacing
- gutting
- murdering
- routing
- undoing
- disfiguring
- scouring
- totalling
- zapping
- expunging
- disassembling
- trashing
- plundering
- looting
- extirpating
- deteriorating
- walloping
- liquidating
- besting
- unmaking
- vandalizing
- vitiating
- pillaging
- surmounting
- executing
- scotching
- sacking
- drubbing
- massacring
- overbearing
- despoiling
- slaying
- dispatching
- effacing
- overmatching
- butchering
- wiping out
- washing out
- trampling
- blowing up
- skunking
- unbuilding
- taking down
- blotting out
- cutting down
- killing off
- triumphing (over)
- dilapidating
- felling
- winning (against)
- prevailing (over)
- taking out
- sweeping (away)
- havocking
- wearing (away)
- mowing (down)
- stamping (out)
- snuffing (out)
- rooting (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- constructing
- building
- repairing
- erecting
- raising
- creating
- fixing
- making
- inventing
- rearing
- producing
- forming
- assembling
- shaping
- establishing
- protecting
- saving
- mending
- forging
- preserving
- patching
- manufacturing
- setting up
- revamping
- organizing
- fashioning
- fabricating
- framing
- instituting
- doctoring
- conserving
- restoring
- rebuilding
- molding
- constituting
- founding
- reconditioning
- reconstructing
- bringing about
- putting up
- remodeling
- fathering
- renovating