Nuclear weapons or nuclear explosions; also used as a verb meaning to attack with nuclear weapons or to heat food in a microwave.
Shortened slang from 'nuclear' (from Latin 'nucleus' meaning 'kernel'). Became common in the 1950s-60s during the Cold War.
The slang use of 'nuke' for 'microwave' came from the 1970s as jokes about nuclear technology being powerful, though it stuck around and now most young people don't even think about the nuclear connection!
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