nuke: /n[y]ook/ vt. [common] 1. To intentionally delete the
entire contents of a given directory or storage volume. "On Unix,
`rm -r /usr' will nuke everything in the usr filesystem." Never
used for accidental deletion; contrast blow away. 2. Syn. for
dike, applied to smaller things such as files, features, or code
sections. Often used to express a final verdict. "What do you want
me to do with that 80-meg wallpaper file?" "Nuke it." 3. Used of
processes as well as files; nuke is a frequent verbal alias for
`kill -9' on Unix. 4. On IBM PCs, a bug that results in fandango
on core can trash the operating system, including the FAT (the
in-core copy of the disk block chaining information). This can
utterly scramble attached disks, which are then said to have been
`nuked'. This term is also used of analogous lossages on
Macintoshes and other micros without memory protection.
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