to denuclearize
- verb
- /ˌdiːˈnjuːkləraɪz/
- Formal
- The treaty aims to ensure that all parties agree to denuclearize and eliminate their stockpiles of nuclear arms.
- denuclearize North Korea
- denuclearize the peninsula
- pledge to denuclearize
Examples
-
The six-party talks and U.S.-North Korean bilateral negotiations have yielded a number of declarations and agreements, but there is still a long way to go before North Korea is fully denuclearized.
Academic text (2008) -
To be clear: the United States must not consider making do with a nuclear North Korea; instead, it must pursue a tough carrot-and-stick approach—engagement and containment—to completely denuclearize North Korea.
Academic text (2008) -
As the alliance denuclearizes, it necessarily becomes less and less American as well.
Academic text (1991) -
One example is the two-decade-old proposal to denuclearize the Middle East under U.N. direction and supervision, where the idea of a "nuclear weapons free zone" was thought to be used more effectively within the context of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
Academic text (1993) -
Three former Soviet republics (Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan) agreed to denuclearize and acceded to the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
Academic text (2000) -
"If you want a guarantee of peace," he reportedly told Weymouth, "there are three ways: (1) denuclearize South Asia; (2) ensure a conventional deterrence so that war never takes place in the subcontinent; and (3) find a solution to the Kashmir problem." (n11)
Academic text (2003) -
The international community is advocating for nations to denuclearize in order to promote global peace.
-
Efforts to denuclearize the region have been ongoing for several years, focusing on reducing nuclear weapons.
Surface Forms
Morphology
denuclearize = nuclearize (transparent) = de + nuclear + ize
The meaning is a regular reversal or removal reading of 'nuclearize', so learners who know the base can usually infer 'remove nuclear weapons or nuclear status'.
Etymology
Denuclearize breaks into de- meaning 'remove' and nuclear, from nucleus meaning 'core' or 'center'. So, to denuclearize a place is to remove its nuclear weapons or nuclear facilities.