preempt
English · Thesaurus
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preempt
- /ˌpɹiːˈɛmpt/
Rhymes with -ɛmpt
Where it comes from
Back-formation from preemption.
verb preempts · preempting · preempted · pre-empt · preëmpt
- To appropriate first. He preempted that hill to be its king.
- To displace or take the place of (by having higher precedence, etc). Floppy disks were preempted by CDs.
-
To prevent or beat to the punch, to forestall an expected occurrence by acting first.
By his statement, the Secretary-General had effectively preempted the usual frustrating debates over questions of fact and law.
Similar: ninja
- To secure (land, etc.) by the right of preemption (purchasing before others, e.g. land because one already occupies it).
- To make a preemptive bid at bridge.
noun preempts · pre-empt · preëmpt · præempt
- A preemptive bid.
- A guaranteed publication deal contingent upon the work being immediately taken off the market and offered to nobody else. Penguin Press editor-in-chief Scott Moyers paid low six figures in a preempt for North American rights to a debut Spanish novel titled The Creator's Map; […]
Translations
Every language
verb to appropriate
| 中文 | 搶占 qiǎngzhàn, 搶先 /抢先 qiǎngxiān |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | zuvorkommen, vorgreifen, in Beschlag nehmen |
verb to displace
| Deutsch | ersetzen, verdrängen |
|---|
verb to make a preemptive bid
| Deutsch | höher bieten |
|---|
Talk about this word "preempt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/preempt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. preempt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/preempt "preempt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/preempt.Cite this
@misc{preempt_2026,
title = {preempt},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/preempt},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
