preempt
About 0.31 uses per million words.
Meaning
- verb To appropriate first.
He preempted that hill to be its king.
- verb To displace or take the place of (by having higher precedence, etc).
Floppy disks were preempted by CDs.
- verb To prevent or beat to the punch, to forestall an expected occurrence by acting first.
- verb To secure (land, etc.) by the right of preemption (purchasing before others, e.g. land because one already occupies it).
- verb To make a preemptive bid at bridge.
- noun A preemptive bid.
- noun A guaranteed publication deal contingent upon the work being immediately taken off the market and offered to nobody else.
Similar words
preemption anticipate pre-empt precedence priority second-guess appropriate preference preferred counter
Often followed by
the state a any or and all local an
Word family
preempted preempting preemptor preemptors preempts
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