nuclear strike
Warhead hits target
A nuclear strike is an attack using nuclear weapons—bombs or missiles that release energy through atomic fission or fusion.
The term appears in military strategy and geopolitical discussion: a preemptive nuclear strike, the threat of a nuclear strike.
A first strike initiates nuclear war; a second strike is retaliatory.
The phrase carries the weight of catastrophic destruction and mass casualties.
- mushroom cloudDistinctive nuclear blast formation
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- warheadMunition's explosive section
- atomicOf elemental particles
- bombExplosive device or disaster
tactical nuke · missile · Hiroshima · radiation · blast · apocalypse · deterrent · arms race · ICBM · bomber squadron · silo · bunker · duck and cover · devastation · scorched earth · ground zero · fission · annihilation
- airstrikesairstrike, air raid, bombing run, bombing raid, bombing
- attacksattack, assault, raid, offensive, charge
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
- destructiondestruction, destroying, demolishing, devastation, ruination
- war violencemassacre, bombardment, bombing, shelling, combat
- military tacticstactics, flanking, maneuver, ambush, battle formations
nuclear strikeconventional warfare
Armed conflict using standard military forces
ground assault · hand-to-hand combat · surgical strike · precision bombing · cyberattack
nuclear strikepeace
Freedom from disturbance
nuclear disarmament · disarmament · denuclearization · peace treaty · ceasefire
nuclear strikenuclear defense
Protection from warhead attacks
missile defense · nuclear deterrence · civil defense · bomb shelter · fallout protection
nuclear, strike, nucleus, nuclei, nucleic, nucleotide, nucleotides, nucleolus, striker