nuke
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A nuclear power station.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nookIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnuk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A nuclear power station.
by extension
Something that destroys or negates, especially on a catastrophic scale.
A person (such as a sailor in a navy or a scientist) who works with nuclear weapons or nuclear power.
A nucleus colony; a small bee colony created from a larger colony.
verb
Cook or heat in a microwave oven
transitivechiefly canadauscolloquial
To use a nuclear weapon on (a target).
transitivechiefly canadauscolloquialfiguratively
To destroy or erase completely.
transitivechiefly canadauscolloquial
To expose to some form of radiation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
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More ways to use nuke
- “Some people jokingly say they want to nuke their microwave dinner.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.