nuclear option

noun

1

: the option of using nuclear weapons in war

… it is now unimaginable that we would use anything approaching the full measure of our military power (the nuclear option aside) in the wars we fight.

—Shelby Steele

2

: an extreme option regarded as a drastic step or last resort

The EU has most leverage over countries that are desperate to join. Once in the club, with full voting rights, countries can answer back, leaving their peers with only the nuclear option of trying to expel them.

—The Economist

specifically, US politics : a parliamentary procedure in the U.S. Senate by which the requirement of the affirmative votes of a supermajority of senators is changed to require only a simple majority to invoke cloture in order to stop a filibuster and allow a vote on a matter (such as a judicial nomination) to proceed

Since Republicans can't muster the 60 votes necessary to overcome this particular filibuster, they now want to use their authority over Senate procedures to abolish the maneuver itself, at least for judicial nominees. Exercising this "nuclear option," as it is known, would theoretically require the support of just a simple majority of senators, which Republican leaders say they are on the verge of solidifying.

—Jonathan Cohn

Examples of nuclear option in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In light of all this, Careless People starts to look more like a drastic escalation than an opening salvo: memoir as nuclear option. —Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2025

There was no magic to be found in any combinations, including when Cooper opted for the nuclear option and sent all three of those players out together. —Chris Johnston, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025

At Sensei Wolf’s instruction and with Silver’s nod of approval, Axel goes with the nuclear option: simply breaking his opponent’s leg. —Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025

Fans of Hollywood movies know there's a nuclear option for dealing with an asteroid coming toward us. —Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nuclear option

• adoption