How to Use nuclear option in a Sentence

nuclear option

noun
  • This is not the first time the chamber has used the nuclear option.
    — Barbara Sprunt, NPR, 11 Sep. 2025
  • And then there is, as there always seems to be, a nuclear option.
    — The Economist, 30 Sep. 2017
  • And there is always the nuclear option if the Sixers want to get crazy.
    — SI.com, 19 June 2018
  • There’s a reason leagues and owners avoid the nuclear option.
    — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2022
  • Once again, the parties flipped sides on whether the nuclear option was justified.
    — CBS News, 9 July 2018
  • 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
  • The shift also introduces a non-nuclear option for long-range strike.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Apr. 2026
  • The nuclear option might be a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.
    — The Economist, 13 June 2019
  • Of course, that is the most nuclear option there and probably the most involved option.
    — Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026
  • But cash money for your vote remains the nuclear option, most dangerous of all.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
  • Still, these planes remain flexible in ways the other nuclear options do not.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 23 Jan. 2019
  • This is the nuclear option, like spiking your Mountain Dew with maple syrup.
    — Zach Przystup, Baltimore Sun, 19 May 2025
  • 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
  • The 49ers have the nuclear option of forcing Aiyuk to play on his current deal.
    — David Lombardi, The Athletic, 23 Aug. 2024
  • And that means beginning to take serious stock of their nuclear options.
    — Florence Gaub, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • And the nuclear option—lawsuits—are employed to take down cheating rings when they're discovered.
    — Bryan Menegus, Wired, 30 Jan. 2022
  • Finding a new nuclear option without Hyman may be the path forward.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Here are seven steps to stop Facebook tracking, starting with the nuclear option.
    — Geoffrey A. Fowler, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Aug. 2021
  • In the end, Macron also still has what in French political terms is the nuclear option.
    — David A. Andelman, CNN, 20 June 2022
  • Disney could even go with a nuclear option and just make Jimmy Kimmel Live!
    — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The filibuster can be abolished with a contentious procedure known as the nuclear option.
    — George Petras, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Right-wing politicians in Seoul are openly debating the nuclear option.
    — Andrew Browne, WSJ, 11 July 2017
  • The Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s real nuclear option.
    — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 25 Mar. 2026
  • But these seem like nuclear options for dealing with a local business owned by a family still reeling from the death of its patriarch.
    — Steven P. Dinkin, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 Apr. 2018
  • For the moment, Goemans still believes that the nuclear option is unlikely.
    — Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022
  • 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

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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