Tacnuke

noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A tactical nuclear weapon. slang

    "Probably it would go as this: the Soviets attack with as little warning as possible in a holiday with a massive BC assault together with their mechanized wave. Maybe a tacnuke or two (or two dozens) are exchanged between WARPACT and NATO troops in Germany and Turkey (i'm thinking of the Thrace area). After 2-3 weeks either the Soviets reach the Rhine and ask for an armistice or the war stalemates and ask for an armistice."

Verb
  1. 1
    To use a tactical nuclear weapon on a target. US, colloquial, transitive
  2. 2
    To destroy or erase completely. US, colloquial, figuratively, transitive

Example

More examples

"Probably it would go as this: the Soviets attack with as little warning as possible in a holiday with a massive BC assault together with their mechanized wave. Maybe a tacnuke or two (or two dozens) are exchanged between WARPACT and NATO troops in Germany and Turkey (i'm thinking of the Thrace area). After 2-3 weeks either the Soviets reach the Rhine and ask for an armistice or the war stalemates and ask for an armistice."

Etymology

Blend of tactical + nuke.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.