nuclear winter

noun

: the chilling of climate that is hypothesized to be a consequence of nuclear war and to result from the prolonged blockage of sunlight by high-altitude dust clouds produced by nuclear explosions

Examples of nuclear winter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Such was the case with the atomic bomb, which made for grisly prophecies not only of the sudden carnage of a fiery blast but also of the prolonged suffering of a nuclear winter. Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025 Radioactive fallout and nuclear winter, in which dust and smoke blot out the sun, would mean the extinction of most life on Earth. Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2024 Pierre Poilievre has said that there’s going to be economic nuclear winter if the Trudeau government prevails. Hazlitt, 25 Dec. 2024 The nuclear winter that would follow a nuclear war would render large parts of the planet uninhabitable. Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 18 May 2021 See all Example Sentences for nuclear winter 

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nuclear winter was in 1983

Dictionary Entries Near nuclear winter

Cite this Entry

“Nuclear winter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nuclear%20winter. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on nuclear winter

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!