:nuke: /n[y]ook/ vt. 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. Oppose {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.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary