pre-empt

British

/ prɪˈɛmpt /

verb

(tr) to acquire in advance of or to the exclusion of others; appropriate
(tr) to occupy (public land) in order to acquire a prior right to purchase
(intr) bridge to make a high opening bid, often on a weak hand, to shut out opposition bidding

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

pre-emptor noun
pre-emptory adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, recently said that the truly “smart” people in the future will be those who can “infer the unspoken,” “see around corners,” and “pre-empt problems before they show up.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The preservation of federal foreign-policy powers led the justices to pre-empt a Massachusetts law that imposed sanctions on Burmese-made goods in Crosby v.

From The Wall Street Journal

The big PBMs are now trying to pre-empt change before it is forced upon them.

From The Wall Street Journal

The next day, Einhorn said she wanted to acquire world rights and pre-empt an auction.

From The Wall Street Journal

"While the university cannot pre-empt the decision by its council over the future of these courses, it is important it does not continue to recruit to courses which are proposed for closure."

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023