weapons of mass destruction

British  

plural noun

1.  WMD.  nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons that can cause indiscriminate death or injury on a large scale

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weapons of mass destruction Cultural  

1. Weapons that can produce devastating results when delivered in a single strike. They include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

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One of the great challenges of the twenty-first century will be to constrain the proliferation and use of such weapons, especially by terrorists (see terrorism).

Example Sentences

This shifting argument is reminiscent of the evolving excuses to invade Iraq: first, it was to stop Saddam Hussein from having weapons of mass destruction.

From Salon

Cheney saw that the threat ran beyond Afghanistan and al Qaeda, that terrorists planned more attacks on America, and they might involve weapons of mass destruction.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was Cheney who insisted early on that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

From Los Angeles Times

He insisted that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction, and saw his defeat as the finishing of old business.

From BBC

INR’s skepticism was later vindicated when no evidence emerged to support the administration’s contention that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction—the justification for invading the country.

From The Wall Street Journal