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nuke
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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.
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