megaton

megaton

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    From mega- + ton.

    Pronunciation

    • (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɛɡəˌtʌn/
    • Audio (US):(file)

    Noun

    megaton (plural megatons)

    1. A measure of the strength of an explosion or a bomb based on how many million tons of TNT would be needed to produce the same energy. (A derived unit for TNT equivalent.)
      Holonyms: gigaton < teraton < petaton < exaton (rare) < zettaton (rare) < yottaton (rare)
      Meronyms: ton of TNT < kiloton
      • 1986, Kirk Thatcher, 44:05 from the start, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home[1], Paramount Pictures, →OCLC:
        The sins of all our fathers, being dumped on us — the sons
        The only choice we're given is: How many megatons?
        And I eschew you!
        And I say: Screw you!
        And I hope you're blue, too.
      • 2022 September 19, Schultheiss et al., “The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, page 1, column 2:
        Integrating data from all continents and major biomes, we conservatively estimate 20 × 1015 (20 quadrillion) ants on Earth, with a total biomass of 12 megatons of dry carbon.
    2. One million tons.
      1. One million short tons (10⁶ × 2000 lb).
      2. One million long tons (10⁶ × 2240 lb).
      3. One million metric tons (10⁶ × 2204.6 lb).
        Holonym: gigaton
        Meronym: kiloton

    Derived terms

    Translations

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    Italian

    Etymology

    From English mega- +‎ ton.

    Noun

    megaton m (invariable)

    1. megaton

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