balance of terror

noun

1. the distribution of nuclear arms among nations such that no nation will initiate an attack for fear of retaliation:

   maintaining the balance of terror between the United States and the Soviet Union.

balance of terror

1. The balance of power between nations that are equipped with nuclear weapons , stemming from their fear of mutual annihilation in a nuclear war.

Word History and Origins

Origin of balance of terror¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

But playing chicken over the debt ceiling is a bit like the nuclear balance of terror: Neither side wants a conflagration, but they could easily stumble into one.

From Los Angeles Times

The most intriguing and the darn coolest part of the extras is the inclusion of the visually remastered episode “Balance of Terror” from “Star Trek: The Original Series,” complementing the “Strange New Worlds” season-ending episode “A Quality of Mercy.”

From Washington Times

The weapons Putin is brandishing aren’t the massive long-range missiles aimed at the United States in the Cold War balance of terror.

From Los Angeles Times

"A Quality of Mercy" culminates this difficult meld of optimism and realism in a flash-forward, and a callback to the "Star Trek" episode "Balance of Terror," one among several this season: A future version of Pike, dressed in the red and white uniform of those 1980s "Star Trek" movies, visits his present self to warn him about altering the future, allowing him to leap forward in time to an event horizon that catapults the galaxy into war.

From Salon

A late season action scene also plays this out in peerless balance of terror and wheeze-inducing slapstick that keeps raising the level of ridiculousness.

From Salon