NUCLEAR WEAPON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nuclear weapon mean? 

• NUCLEAR WEAPON (noun)
  The noun NUCLEAR WEAPON has 1 sense:

1. a weapon of mass destruction whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction

  Familiarity information: NUCLEAR WEAPON used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NUCLEAR WEAPON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A weapon of mass destruction whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

atomic weapon; nuclear weapon

Hypernyms ("nuclear weapon" is a kind of...):

W.M.D.; weapon of mass destruction; WMD (a weapon that kills or injures civilian as well as military personnel (nuclear and chemical and biological weapons))

Meronyms (parts of "nuclear weapon"):

atomic warhead; nuclear warhead; nuke; thermonuclear warhead (the warhead of a missile designed to deliver an atom bomb)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nuclear weapon"):

A-bomb; atom bomb; atomic bomb; fission bomb; plutonium bomb (a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239))

fusion bomb; H-bomb; hydrogen bomb; thermonuclear bomb (a nuclear weapon that releases atomic energy by union of light (hydrogen) nuclei at high temperatures to form helium)

megaton bomb (a nuclear weapon with an explosive power equivalent to one million tons of TNT)