From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthermonuclearther‧mo‧nu‧cle‧ar /ˌθɜːməʊˈnjuːkliə◂ $ ˌθɜːrmoʊˈnuːkliər◂/ adjective PMWthermonuclear weapons use a nuclear reaction, involving the splitting of atoms, to produce very high temperatures and a very powerful explosion a thermonuclear device
Examples from the Corpus
thermonuclear• The 20-year cold war between them turned thermonuclear.• We're talking about the combined and simultaneous effect of a massive thermonuclear detonation, a volcanic eruption and an earthquake.• Chopra still did not know what was being excavated, or why they had stolen the most powerful thermonuclear device ever created.• The spark was supposed to ignite the fusion reaction or miniature thermonuclear explosion.• Work on controlled thermonuclear fusion proceeded secretly in both nations and in Britain.• Eventually the internal pressure and temperature rise sufficiently for thermonuclear fusion to begin.• This finding was incompatible with a simple thermonuclear origin.• The objective was to use a relatively small fission device to trigger-off a thermonuclear reaction of arbitrarily large yield. 