mushroom cloud
nounDefinition of mushroom cloud
: a mushroom-shaped cloud
specifically
: one caused by the explosion of a nuclear weapon
Examples of mushroom cloud in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the first tourist attractions in Las Vegas was the chance to wake up early, stand outside your hotel, and watch the flash and mushroom cloud from the bombs rolling into the sky. — Garrett M. Graff, WIRED, "America's Decades-Old Obsession With Nuking Hurricanes (and More)," 26 Aug. 2019 Although the United States conducted only 6% of its nuclear-bomb testing here, the detonations and mushroom clouds generated more than half of the total energy yield from all U.S. testing. — Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, "Radiation in parts of the Marshall Islands is far higher than Chernobyl, study says," 15 July 2019 Although the United States conducted only 6% of its nuclear-bomb testing here, the detonations and mushroom clouds generated more than half of the total energy yield from all U.S. testing. — Susanne Rust, latimes.com, "Radioactivity in parts of the Marshall Islands is far higher than Chernobyl, study says," 15 July 2019 Like a thunderstorm, a mushroom cloud blossoms over the volcano, where ash is catapulted into the sky with explosive force. — Matthew Cappucci, Anchorage Daily News, "This North Pacific volcano just erupted after nearly a century of silence. Astronauts captured the breathtaking scene.," 27 June 2019 In addition, the deal says that Iran can enrich uranium to contain no more than 3.67 percent of an isotope which, in high enough concentration, can produce a mushroom cloud. — Michael Crowley, New York Times, "The Iran Crisis, Explained," 17 June 2019 The explosion created a mushroom cloud 40 miles high and 63 miles wide, and destroyed houses 34 miles away. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "What Would Happen If We Nuked the Bottom of the Ocean?," 23 July 2018 The center yellow circle is the fireball radius — that is, the mushroom cloud — which would extend out about 0.25 square miles. — Alex Ward, Vox, "This is exactly how a nuclear war would kill you," 19 Oct. 2018 One email introduced as court evidence in 2016 showed a photo of a mushroom cloud and a link to an article about how Russia-U.S. tensions could trigger World War III. — Matt O'brien, The Seattle Times, "Microsoft’s anti-hacking efforts make it an internet cop," 21 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mushroom cloud.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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