nuclear option

noun

1

: the option of using nuclear weapons in war

… it is now unimaginable that we would use anything approaching the full measure of our military power (the nuclear option aside) in the wars we fight.

—Shelby Steele

2

: an extreme option regarded as a drastic step or last resort

The EU has most leverage over countries that are desperate to join. Once in the club, with full voting rights, countries can answer back, leaving their peers with only the nuclear option of trying to expel them.

—The Economist

specifically, US politics : a parliamentary procedure in the U.S. Senate by which the requirement of the affirmative votes of a supermajority of senators is changed to require only a simple majority to invoke cloture in order to stop a filibuster and allow a vote on a matter (such as a judicial nomination) to proceed

Since Republicans can't muster the 60 votes necessary to overcome this particular filibuster, they now want to use their authority over Senate procedures to abolish the maneuver itself, at least for judicial nominees. Exercising this "nuclear option," as it is known, would theoretically require the support of just a simple majority of senators, which Republican leaders say they are on the verge of solidifying.

—Jonathan Cohn

Examples of nuclear option in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While the April 2024 law technically only mandates blocking new downloads and certain support services, TikTok owner ByteDance appears to be opting for what industry analysts are calling the nuclear option — a complete blackout of its platform for all its 170 million American users. —Esat Dedezade, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

So how did the Heat get here, facing a nuclear option, at least in theory, of having to give up elite draft capital in 2026 and ’28? —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2025

The nuclear option Some combination of nuclear and hydroelectric power supports the world’s eight big clean grids. —Alex Pavlak, Baltimore Sun, 6 Jan. 2025

Any international observer should be able to understand Seoul’s reasoning for pursuing a nuclear option. —Robert E. Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 30 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1