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💣 A nuclear bomb ☢️ To destroy completely 🍲 To microwave food
to nuke

to nuke

8 5.8
To heat food quickly in a microwave oven
  • verb
  • /nuːk/
  • Informal
translation icon : calentar en el microondas
  • Instead of blanching, vegetables may also be briefly nuked in your microwave.
  • nuke food
  • nuke some chicken
  • nuke a frozen

Examples

  • You can nuke the leftovers for about two minutes to make them hot again.

  • I'll nuke some fried chicken.

    Jersey Shore Massacre (2014)

  • If it's cold, I can go nuke it in the kitchen.

    Obsessed (2009)

  • I think first step is just mix them up and nuke them for a little while.

  • This will nuke your food to perfection.

    Exit (2020)

  • She offered to nuke my corn dog.

    Multiplicity (1996)

  • There's spaghetti you can nuke if you want it.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • She could nuke it for Teddy's dinner tomorrow.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Okay, I admit, I nuke my Pop-Tarts (when the occasion comes up that I have them).

    Blog text (12)

  • Here's your coffee, freshly nuked.

    Obsessed (2009)

Synonyms

to microwave
vsto nuke
22 2.1

To heat or cook food in a small electric oven that uses radio waves

has identical meaning but is a different verb form
to zap
vsto nuke
  • Informal
3 4.1

To heat food quickly in a microwave

has identical meaning but is a different verb form

Antonyms

to cool
256 1.0

To make or become less warm

Idioms

to nuke the fridge
  • Slang
9.9

To stop work on something and start it again from the beginning

How Hot

burn
157 1.8
to boil
269 1.0
to nuke
  • Informal
8 5.8
to heat
298 1.0
to warm
488 1.0

Surface Forms

nuke infinitive
nuked past
nuked past participle
nuking present participle
nukes third person singular

Etymology

Nuke (to heat food) is a slang use of the short form nuclear. A helpful way to remember it is to think of the microwave giving a quick 'blast' of energy, so to nuke food is to heat it very fast in a microwave.