DEFCON

American  

[def-kon] / ˈdɛf kɒn /

noun

1. any of several alert statuses for U.S. military forces, ranked numerically from normal, 5, to maximum readiness, 1.

---

Etymology

Origin of DEFCON

def(ense readiness) con(dition)

Example Sentences

The since-deleted tweet seemed to refer to the United States’ military readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2022

That’s an apparent reference to the U.S. military readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 9, 2022

Then they review some of the disturbing security news out of DEFCON, the annual hacker conference in Las Vegas, including a demonstration in which an 11-year-old managed to hack a voting machine in minutes.

From Slate • Aug. 15, 2018

Everyone who’s ever attended DEFCON, the largest hacker conference in North America, has been warned not to connect to the hotel wifi and to bring burner devices to the conference.

From The Verge • Dec. 21, 2017

Everyone on Altos wanted DEFCON, but Force refused to hand over the program.

From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette