nuke it from orbit

verb

nuke it from orbit

verb

Etymology Alteration of dialog from the 1986 movie Aliens in which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) proposes a solution to an infestation of dangerous creatures: "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

Humorous, Informal, Often To completely eliminate a dangerous or undesirable thing.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.