How to Use nuclear option in a Sentence

nuclear option

noun
Definition of nuclear optionnext
  • The Leader has said for years that the votes are not there in the Conference to use the nuclear option.
    — Emily Brooks, Washington Examiner, 28 Jan. 2021
  • And there is always the nuclear option if the Sixers want to get crazy.
    — SI.com, 19 June 2018
  • And then there is, as there always seems to be, a nuclear option.
    — The Economist, 30 Sep. 2017
  • There is always the aforementioned nuclear option, too, which could be used to move the moon rather than the Earth.
    — Maddie Bender, Scientific American, 18 June 2021
  • There is never a wrong time to invoke the nuclear option and get rid of the filibuster once and for all.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 23 Jan. 2021
  • Gorsuch, who will take his seat in time to hear the final cases of the 2016 term, is the first justice to make his way to the court in the post–nuclear option era.
    — Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, 7 Apr. 2017
  • In fact, The River Shack menu features the nuclear option.
    — Lawrence Specker | [email protected], al, 5 July 2023
  • There’s a reason leagues and owners avoid the nuclear option.
    — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2022
  • The nuclear option might be a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.
    — The Economist, 13 June 2019
  • This sounds extreme, but the nuclear option could be the quickest way to change your meeting culture for the better.
    — Lee Gimpel, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2021
  • Once again, the parties flipped sides on whether the nuclear option was justified.
    — CBS News, 9 July 2018
  • In the end, Macron also still has what in French political terms is the nuclear option.
    — David A. Andelman, CNN, 20 June 2022
  • The law also gives the EU recourse to the nuclear option of forcing tech companies to sell off parts of their business.
    — Morgan Meaker, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024
  • And yes, there are dragons — a fire-breathing metaphor for the nuclear option as the war councils debate how to deploy them.
    — Samantha Miller, Peoplemag, 15 June 2024
  • In 2013, Senate Democrats — then in the majority — triggered the nuclear option for the first time.
    — NBC News, 28 June 2018
  • Whether or not a criminal case is brought, simply the prospect of jail time — coupled with the nuclear option — may be the only way the SEC can stop Musk from breaking the rules.
    — Charles K. Whitehead For Cnn Business Perspectives, CNN, 6 July 2022
  • This scenario could be best described as the nuclear option.
    — Dan Horn, Cincinnati.com, 15 Mar. 2018
  • With his team in a bit of a scoring rut at five on five, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery is using his nuclear option.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Nov. 2022
  • The nuclear option Donald Trump backed off from his promise to scrap the deal that freezes Iran’s nuclear programme.
    — The Economist, 19 Oct. 2017
  • He was confirmed to the court after Republicans changed Senate rules, a move that was referred to as the nuclear option.
    — Bryan Lowry, kansascity, 27 June 2018
  • The nuclear option would be cutting Taylor outright, and eating the nearly $30 million left on a contract that runs through the end of next season.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2024
  • And of course, there's always the nuclear option: Impeachment.
    — David Pogue, CBS News, 30 June 2024
  • Here are seven steps to stop Facebook tracking, starting with the nuclear option.
    — Geoffrey A. Fowler, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Aug. 2021
  • The report is a reminder, however, that Trump has a number of options to ice the Mueller probe that do not include the nuclear option of trying to fire the special counsel.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 29 Mar. 2018
  • And the nuclear option—lawsuits—are employed to take down cheating rings when they're discovered.
    — Bryan Menegus, Wired, 30 Jan. 2022
  • Then there is the nuclear option, a penalty so draconian that no one likes spelling it out in public.
    — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Still, these planes remain flexible in ways the other nuclear options do not.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 23 Jan. 2019
  • And will the Padres’ latest nuclear option – nuking their farm system – render them anything more than just the Dodgers’ hermanito to the south?
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Instead of the nuclear option, Google wants to keep the platform at least nominally neutral.
    — Dieter Bohn, The Verge, 20 Apr. 2018
  • But according to Bloomberg’s sources, the Justice Department is also considering the nuclear option: breaking up Google.
    — David Meyer, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nuclear option.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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