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PlainSpell

nuke

/n(j)uk/noun, verb

nuke is spelled N-U-K-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nuke means “A nuclear weapon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nuke is nukes.

How many letters and syllables are in nuke?

Letters4: N-U-K-E
Syllables1
In writing1.9 times per million words; the 19,825th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is nuke?

Nuke appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce nuke?

  • UK /njuːk/
  • US /n(j)uk/

Nuke has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-nuke.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with nuke

Sounds like: neuk, nuc (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: nook, nuc.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with nuke?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nuke from its last stressed vowel (/uk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: neuk.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of nuke

  • nukes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • nuking participle, present
  • nuked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does nuke mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    UScolloquialA nuclear weapon.

  2. 2

    UScolloquialSomething that destroys or negates, especially on a catastrophic scale.

  3. 3

    UScolloquialA nuclear power station.

  4. 4

    UScolloquialA vessel such as a ship or submarine running on nuclear power.

  5. 5

    UScolloquialA person (such as a sailor in a navy or a scientist) who works with nuclear weapons or nuclear power.

  6. 6

    UScolloquialA cautionary flag placed on a release to label it as "bad" for some reason or another (e.g., being a dupe of a previous release or containing malware).

  7. 7

    UScolloquialrareA microwave oven.

    Just put it in the nuke for two minutes and it will be ready to eat.

  8. 8

    UScolloquialA spell, item or ability that does a large amount of damage over a short period of time.

  9. 9

    UScolloquialAlternative spelling of nuc (“nucleus colony of bees”).

  10. 10

    UScolloquialobsoleteAlternative form of nucha (“spinal cord; nape of the neck”).

  11. 11

    USarchaiccolloquialAlternative form of nook (“a corner of a piece of land; an angled piece of land, especially one extending into other land”).

verb

  1. 1

    CanadaUScolloquialTo use a nuclear weapon on (a target).

    If a nuclear war ever breaks out, military facilities are likely to be nuked first.

  2. 2

    CanadaUScolloquialTo destroy or erase completely.

    He had his posts nuked from the Google archives.

  3. 3

    UScolloquialTo carry out a denial-of-service attack against (an IRC user).

  4. 4

    UScolloquialTo maliciously destroy an online community or chat server (especially on Discord) by mass-deleting channels, roles, and messages, or by mass-banning members, often using an automated script or bot.

    The Chaos Gang managed to get administrator permissions and nuke the entire server in seconds.

  5. 5

    CanadaUScolloquialTo expose to some form of radiation.

  6. 6

    CanadaUScolloquialTo cook in a microwave oven.

    I’ll nuke some pizza for dinner.

  7. 7

    UScolloquialTo overanalyze or despair unduly over something.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Nuke in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frencharme atomique ((colloquial) nuclear weapon), micro-onde ((colloquial) microwave oven), atomiser, anéantir ((colloquial) to destroy or erase completely), micro-onder ((colloquial) to cook in a microwave oven)
GermanA-Bombe ((colloquial) nuclear weapon), Mikrowelle ((colloquial) microwave oven), Atommeiler ((colloquial) nuclear power station)
Portuguesearma nuclear ((colloquial) nuclear weapon), aniquilar, destruir ((colloquial) to destroy or erase completely)
Spanisharma nuclear ((colloquial) nuclear weapon), aniquilar, destruir ((colloquial) to destroy or erase completely), freír, atomizar ((colloquial) to use a nuclear weapon on a target)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does nuke come from?

Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after nuke