nuke

as in to destroy
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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nuke Glen Powell plays a hotshot quarterback who nukes his Division I career, then joins a struggling Southern football team. Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 30 Dec. 2024 Pyongyang now routinely, almost casually, threatens to nuke South Korea and the United States. Robert E. Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 30 Dec. 2024 The Anyone but You star portrays quarterback Russ Holliday, who disguises himself as a fictional person and walks onto a struggling football team in the South after bad behavior nukes his college career. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2024 Then radiation nuked anything the chemo might have missed. David Oliver, USA TODAY, 15 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for nuke
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nuke
Verb
  • The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea from a group of Native American activists and supporters to block a copper mining company from destroying an Apache religious site.
    Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 27 May 2025
  • During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.
    Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 27 May 2025
Verb
  • Facing greater competition and sensing more opportunity, the owners decided to close the hotel at the end of May and demolish the building next year.
    Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
  • Its current office building in the area would be demolished.
    Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 20 May 2025
Verb
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
  • But that stumble constitutes Hwang’s only confrontation with the hypocrisy that ruins Yellow Face and its inherent PBS conceit.
    Armond White, National Review, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • Sand, breeze blocks, storm shutters—these are materials of survival and exclusion, shaped by the hurricanes that regularly devastate her homeland.
    Nargess Banks, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
  • The Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions Friday in a big first step toward fulfilling the president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country devastated by civil war.
    Abby Sewell, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • But the illusion of paradise is shattered when another guest is found dead and Gabriel becomes the prime suspect.
    Laura Thompson, New York Times, 22 May 2025
  • The event shattered the records for participation in a online chess game, passing the previous record of 70,000 set for the ‘Vishy vs. The World’ last year.
    Ben Morse, CNN Money, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • His cabin was a few miles south of the one the bear wrecked for for me, closer to the fringe of settlement.
    Ted Updike, Outdoor Life, 22 May 2025
  • Soon, the film studio’s fortunes turned with films like Die Hard – the explanation that producers Joel Silver and Larry Gordon gave in getting permission to use the Fox headquarters for Nakatomi Plaza for one night, only to stay weeks and wreck the place – is hilarious.
    Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • That served as a prelude to Tim Anderson smashing his own two-run shot off Zack Britton in the bottom of the inning to send the White Sox home winners.
    Tim Britton, New York Times, 30 May 2025
  • He’s often found smashing things in the name of justice but can still be angered easily if things don’t go his way.
    Sarah Scott, Parents, 30 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Nuke.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nuke. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.

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