Definition

1. Verb:
   • To attack or destroy (a target) using a hydrogen bomb, a thermonuclear weapon of immense destructive power.

Usage

• This verb is transitive and requires a direct object (the target being attacked).
• It is a highly specific and technical term, almost exclusively used in military, historical, or speculative contexts.
• The action described is catastrophic and on a massive scale.

Examples

• Verb:
  • In the worst-case scenario of the war, analysts feared one side might hydrogen-bomb the enemy's capital.
  • The science fiction novel depicted an alien fleet threatening to hydrogen-bomb Earth's major cities.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used in a figurative or hyperbolic sense to describe an overwhelming defeat or destruction in a non-literal context, though this is rare.
  • The debate team was so prepared they hydrogen-bombed their opponents' arguments. (Figurative, hyperbolic)

Variants and Related Words

• Hydrogen bomb (n.): The noun form referring to the weapon itself. A thermonuclear bomb that uses nuclear fusion to release enormous energy.
• Nuke (v., informal): A more general, informal verb meaning to attack with nuclear weapons.
• Annihilate (v.): To destroy completely.
• Obliterate (v.): To wipe out; destroy utterly.

Synonyms

• Thermonuclear-bomb (v.) (rare)
• Destroy with a hydrogen bomb

Related Phrasal Verbs/Compounds

• (To) drop a hydrogen bomb: A more common verbal phrase with the same meaning.
  • The order was given to drop a hydrogen bomb on the test site.

Verb

1. attack with a hydrogen bomb