View synonyms for thermonuclear

thermonuclear

[ thur-moh-noo-klee-er, -nyoo-or, by metathesis, -kyuh-ler ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

thermonuclear

/ ˌθɜːməʊˈnjuːklɪə /

thermonuclear

/ thûr′mō-no̅o̅′klē-ər /

Relating to the fusion of atomic nuclei at high temperatures or to the energy produced in this way.
Relating to weapons based on nuclear fusion, especially as distinguished from those based on nuclear fission.

thermonuclear

A term referring to devices that use nuclear fusion , the fusion of atomic nuclei , to produce energy at very high temperatures. ( See hydrogen bomb .)

First recorded in 1935–40; thermo- + nuclear

If that strikes us as tiresome and tedious, we might as well just hang it up and trigger some global thermonuclear war.

There need to be perfect conditions for the thermonuclear reaction to take place.

Any deal is good in that it averts thermonuclear economic collapse.

The daily brief said nothing about widespread plutonium dispersal or about the lost thermonuclear bomb.

A second group worked to locate the lost thermonuclear bomb, called a “broken arrow” in Defense Department terms.

Larch put off another entertainment of small stuff, with a fifty megaton thermonuclear, viewscreen-piloted, among them.

In that year, too, tests were made at Eniwetok preliminary to the detonation of the first thermonuclear device.

Project Sedan, an underground thermonuclear detonation in 1962, established conditions for one such study.

Thermonuclear weapons, complemented over time by strong conventional forces, threatened societal damage to Russia.

It also included immersion in technology and systems from thermonuclear weapons to advanced weapons software.

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