nuke meaning (colloquial): definition, etymology and quotations

nuke

noun

UK /njuːk/ · US /n(j)uk/

Etymology Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun.

8 senses

1A nuclear weapon.
2Something that destroys or negates, especially on a…
3A nuclear power station.
4A vessel such as a ship or submarine running on nuclear power.
5A person (such as a sailor in a navy or a scientist) who…
6A cautionary flag placed on a release to label it as…
7A microwave oven.
8A spell, item or ability that does a large amount of…

US, Colloquial A nuclear weapon.

"Mini-nukes" are "among the active unresolved nuclear issues in NATO at the moment," according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report. […] Mini-nukes, the report said, are the "new generation of tactical nuclear weapons which combine low and variable yield possibilities with enhanced radiation characteristics and which could be used with artillery and laser-guided or other 'smart' bombs."1974 January, Lloyd Norman, “The Reluctant Dragon: NATO’s Fears and the Need for New Nuclear Weapons”, in L. James Binder, editor, Army, volume 24, number 1, Washington, D.C.: Association of the United States Army, →OCLC, page 16:
The world has witnessed the first confrontation between the ‘nukes’ and the ‘non-nukes’ [i.e., countries possessing and not possessing nuclear weapons]. Although only a political one, this confrontation at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which took place last May in Geneva, portends serious trouble ahead.[1975 September, William Epstein, “Failure at the NPT Review Conference”, in Samuel H. Day, Jr., editor, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: A Magazine of Science and Public Affairs, volume XXXI, number 7, Chicago, Ill.: Educational Foundation for Nuclear Scence, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 46, column 2:

4 more examples

‘This, er, initiator of polonium and lithium, would it be used in an anti-personnel bomb?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes, you could say so, boyo,’ replied the Welshman. ‘An initiator, you see, is what sets off a nuke.’1984, Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 301:
For citizens of nuclear states, nukes are the metaphor for success and failure, the constraints for experimentation, the analogy for all other "problems." Nonetheless, these same citizens seem reluctant to take nukes so seriously.1992, William Chaloupka, “Knowing Nukes”, in Knowing Nukes: The Politics and Culture of the Atom, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minneapolis Press, →ISBN, page 1:
I can buy nukes on the black market for $40 million each.2001, Skip Woods, Swordfish, spoken by Gabriel Shear (John Travolta):
That was the apparent strategy with the hand-carried nukes, Bentley said — not to nuke Russians directly but rather nuke big holes in the Alps, so that all the resultant ash would fill up the valleys and prevent Soviet tanks and trucks from being able to pass, he said.2019 January 7, Paul Srubas, “His job was to place atomic bombs. Place them, not drop them. Set the timer. Run like hell.”, in Green Bay Press-Gazette:

US, Broadly, Colloquial Something that destroys or negates, especially on a catastrophic scale.

US, Colloquial A nuclear power station.

Confronted with the threat of several nukes on the island, we soon realized that the Long Island Sound is being used as a massive cooling basin for nuclear reactors.1979, Anna Gyorgy et al., “Atomic Power, Nuclear Plants”, in No Nukes: Everyone’s Guide to Nuclear Power (Black Rose Books; no. I.49), Montreal, Que.: Black Rose Books, →ISBN, page 406:
Nukes Don't Pollute2002, Home Power - Issues 86-91, page 121:

2 more examples

He calculates that nukes might be needed to power energy-intensive “large scale co2 sequestration techniques” as well.2010, Andrew Nikiforuk, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, page 155:
We've analyzed employee manifests at all nukes, LNG, and refineries in the United States for Middle Eastern profile matches.2010, Ben Coes, Power Down:

Nautical, Transport US, Colloquial A vessel such as a ship or submarine running on nuclear power.

A nuke [nuclear submarine] can't survive with one flooded compartment. Any compartment that floods is going to kill you. Okay? Now, that's an acceptable risk because the nuclear hull is made of better steel. If a surface ship hits a nuclear submarine, the surface ship is going to sink, which we've demonstrated again and again. [...] In a nuke you come to periscope depth once a day, every two days.2006, Dan Gillcrist, “Apples and Oranges”, in Power Shift: The Transition to Nuclear Power in the U.S. Submarine Force as Told by Those Who Did It, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 145:

US, Colloquial A person (such as a sailor in a navy or a scientist) who works with nuclear weapons or nuclear power.

But nowhere in our military services is there a more highly trained, more qualified group of officers than the Navy's nuclear power officers – Navy nukes. The responsibilities the Navy's 4,300 nukes have to assume – procuring, testing, operating, and maintaining our nuclear-powered fleet – require a much deeper level of understanding than is necessary in the other services.1991 summer, Grady Wells, “Getting Under Way with Navy Nukes”, in Tyrone D. Taborn, editor, US Black Engineer, volume 15, number 3, Baltimore, Md.: Career Communications Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29:

US, Colloquial A cautionary flag placed on a release to label it as "bad" for some reason or another (e.g., being a dupe of a previous release or containing malware).

A nuke based on non existent rules or made up reasons can be undone – this is called and^([sic]) un-nuke.2009 June 12, TEAM FILEnetworks, “Scene NukeWars : Funniest nuke reasons ever”, in FILEnetworks Blog, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2021:

US, Colloquial, Rare A microwave oven.

Just put it in the nuke for two minutes and it will be ready to eat.
Three, my brothers that were taken elsewhere shall also be fed, in like manner, not from your nuke garbage but from your best food.1986, Christine Brooke-Rose, Xorandor, page 113:

3 more examples

I let my eyes wander, imagining that I was inside, wandering through, opening the fridge, checking out the nuke and macrowave^([sic]), cranking the handles to see if the water flowed, palming light switches, opening cupboards, ...1997, Joe Clifford Faust, Handling it: how I got rich and famous, made media stars out of common street scum and almost got the girl, →ISBN:
To replace the entire unit would be my best advice, to repair it costs more than just money, you also have to hassle with the repair people and lose out on time not having your 'nuke'.2009, Nate Stansfield, SOLVED: Light comes on and turntable spins. It sounds like it is working byt no heat.:
The done bell on the nuke went off. In my book, next-day pizza is one of the best leftovers around, especially when accompanied by the lone survivor of a six-pack of Sam Adams special.2010, M. Scott Kelley, Rose City Demise, →ISBN, page 58:

Video games US, Colloquial A spell, item or ability that does a large amount of damage over a short period of time.

Derived terms: antinuke, backpack nuke, McNuke, micronuke, nucular, nukage, nuke family, nuke it from orbit, nukelike, nuke plant, nuker, nukespeak, nuke the fridge, nukewar, suitcase nuke, tacnuke, tac nuke, tac-nuke, truth nuke, trvke

nuke

verb

Etymology Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun.

7 senses

1To use a nuclear weapon on (a target).
2To destroy or erase completely.
3To carry out a denial-of-service attack against (an IRC user).
4To maliciously destroy an online community or chat…
5To expose to some form of radiation.
6To cook in a microwave oven.
7To overanalyze or despair unduly over something.

Canada, US, Colloquial To use a nuclear weapon on (a target).

If a nuclear war ever breaks out, military facilities are likely to be nuked first.
It's Christmas at ground zero / Now the missiles are on their way / What a crazy fluke / We're gonna get nuked / On this jolly holiday1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:

4 more examples

Okay, listen to me: We've been nuked. The whole fucking country's been nuked. I don't know how many are dead in here, but we're alive, and so is Colonel Macklin.1987, Robert R[ick] McCammon, chapter 15, in Swan Song (Pocket Books; 62413.X), New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN:
Nor was nuking a solution. Kargh would never forgive nuking a planet in other than defense of the Faith. While on another level, nuking might easily bring about a hatred of the Empire that would make the conversation and rule of this sector very difficult. No, nuking was another way to earn a place on the palace wall, decorating a long iron stake.2004 May, John Dalmas, chapter 43, in The Regiment: A Trilogy (Baen Books Megabook), New York, N.Y.: Baen Publishing Enterprises, →ISBN:
Listen, I've said it once and I'll [say] it just one more time. Nuke London. This is a Presidential Decree. [...] O London is not in France. Paris is in France. Paris is the capital of France. / P I thought Paris was the capital of England. / O France. / P You mean I'm nuking the wrong place? / O Afraid. So. / P Call Charley. Tell him I revoke the order. [...] (To P) London is being nuked at this very moment.2017 October 27, Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter, “The US president nukes the world: read Harold Pinter’s newly discovered play”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2019:
Eventually, Kylie joins forces with Garrison-Trump, who is attracted to the concept of annihilating a perceived enemy, and nukes the city of Toronto into dust.2017 November 30, Dani Di Placido, “‘South Park’ Review: History Repeats Itself in ‘Super Hard PCness’”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2017:

Canada, US, Colloquial, Figuratively To destroy or erase completely.

He had his posts nuked from the Google archives.
The find is all the more remarkable, [George] Koch said, because the trees are in a tract added to the park belatedly, during President Jimmy Carter's administration. "They aren't all that far from an old clear-cut," he said. "Basically, they were almost nuked. The fact that they weren't is amazing."2006 September 7, Glen Martin, “Eureka! New tallest living Thing discovered / THE CHAMPION: At 378.1 feet, Hyperion in Redwood National Park on North Coast towers 8 feet above Stratosphere Giant”, in San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, Calif.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2019:

3 more examples

Cyborg romance is the flip side of the robot uprising. Our mechanical creations love us instead of nuking us from orbit. The fantasy here isn't about making it with a hot fembot. It's about wanting approval from our children, wanting them to grow up without obliterating us.2010 September 28, Annalee Newitz, “Why do We Keep Falling in Love with Cyborgs?”, in io9, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2019:
Conservative Canadian commentator Lauren Southern apparently has few fond memories of her time in Melbourne, cheekily suggesting the city "should be nuked". [...] "You know that old tale in the bible where Abraham is talking to god about Sodom and Gomorrah. He's like begging with god and says 'god, if I can find ten good people in Sodom and Gomorrah, please, do not nuke Melbourne.' We did find a few hundred good ones there – there is a silent majority I believe in Melbourne so we can't nuke it yet guys I'm sorry."2018 August 3, Tom Crystal, “Lauren Southern says ‘Melbourne should be nuked’”, in The Australian, Surry Hills, N.S.W.: News Corp Australia, →ISSN, →OCLC:
Yes, the Democratic Party's sharp leftward pivot might have nuked the Never Trump movement all on its own, because it is leaving no sane alternatives to [Donald] Trump.2019 March 25, Tiana Lowe, “How the Russia #Resistance nuked the Never Trump movement”, in Washington Examiner, Washington, D.C.: MediaDC, Clarity Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2019:

Internet, US, Broadly, Colloquial To carry out a denial-of-service attack against (an IRC user).

The command and control servers used by the Mydoom variant, responsible for the recent denial of service attacks against Korean and US government websites, receive instructions from a master server located in the UK. [...] Apparently, the decision of whoever was responsible to damage the infected systems after July 10 pointed [Roger] Thompson in this direction. "Why bother nuking 60k computers after doing all the work of assembling them? Nuking them only helps the Good Guys, because the victims are forced to re-build, and therefore clean, their computers. [..."]2009 July 14, Lucian Constantin, “Master Control Server for Mydoom DDoS Botnet Tracked to UK: Security Experts Stress that North Korea’s Involvement in the Attacks is Unlikely”, in Softpedia News, archived from the original on 09 May 2016:

Internet, US, Colloquial To maliciously destroy an online community or chat server (especially on Discord) by mass-deleting channels, roles, and messages, or by mass-banning members, often using an automated script or bot.

The Chaos Gang managed to get administrator permissions and nuke the entire server in seconds.

Canada, US, Colloquial To expose to some form of radiation.

Canada, US, Colloquial To cook in a microwave oven.

I’ll nuke some pizza for dinner.
If you've picked up a secondhand one, you should invest $4.00 for a microwave leak tester. The one I have has a little smiley face and a little frowning face. If the smiley face lights up when you pass it in front of the turned-on microwave, then you can nuke with impunity.1992, Lora Brody, “Welcome to Your Kitchen”, in The Kitchen Survival Guide: A Hand-holding Kitchen Primer with 130 Recipes to Get You Started, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 15:

1 more example

Dad had just slapped dinner on the table—a frozen lasagna nuked in the microwave, salad from a bag and presliced garlic bread, also nuked.2012, Janice Kay Johnson, chapter 1, in No Matter What (Harlequin Super Romance; 1807), Don Mills, Ont.,: Harlequin, →ISBN:

Nautical, Transport US, Colloquial To overanalyze or despair unduly over something.

Derived terms: antinuker, denuke, nukable, nukeable, nuke and pave, nuked, nuke it from orbit, nuke it out, nuker, unnuke

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

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Conjugation of “nuke”, all tenses