pre-emptive strike
3
6.8
- noun
- /priˈɛmptɪv straɪk/
:
ataque preventivo
- Americans and American counterterrorism officials are claiming that this is a pre emptive strike to send a clear message to Iran.
- launch a pre-emptive strike
- justify a pre-emptive strike
Americans and American counterterrorism officials are claiming that this is a pre emptive strike to send a clear message to Iran.
- Americans and American counterterrorism officials are claiming that this is a pre emptive strike to send a clear message to Iran.
Examples
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Based on Israeli intelligence information, pre-emptive strikes were conducted primarily against cells from the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees.
Blog text (13) -
The assassination of Jaabari was a pre-emptive strike against the possibility of a long-term ceasefire.
Blog text (5) -
"It's a pre-emptive strike," Jones said.
Blog text (28) -
Would you support or opposed a pre emptive strike by Israel on Iran?
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The question will be to what extent an Obama administration will support pre-emptive strikes by Israel.
Blog text (1) -
The debate begins on Iran and the question is, would you support a pre emptive strike on Iran?
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Many within the Obama administration believe that Israel will launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities before the U.S. presidential elections, an act which would signal the failure of one of Washington's key foreign policy objectives.
Blog text (12) -
In the early hours of this morning, the South African Defence Force launched a pre-emptive strike on a known ANC safe house in Gaborone, Botswana, killing four terrorists.
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An armada of U.S. and British naval power is amassing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran's covert nuclear weapons program.
Blog text (12) -
The military planned a pre-emptive strike to thwart any potential attack from enemy forces.
Synonyms
13
3.5
A sudden action that begins without warning to catch people not ready
4
8.6
A surprise attack with nuclear weapons to destroy an enemy's ability to fight back
A military action to stop an expected attack by an enemy before it happens
A move by an army done before an enemy starts to fight to stop them
Action taken before an expected attack to punish or prevent it
Antonyms
How Preventive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derived from 'pre-emptive' (taken in advance to prevent problems) plus 'strike' (an attack), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer an attack launched in advance to stop an anticipated enemy action. This compositional pattern and the cross-linguistic existence of similar terms make the expression predictable and transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Pre-emptive strike comes from the simple picture of attacking first to stop the other side. Pre-emptive means acting 'before' and strike means an attack, so the phrase means 'a surprise attack' done to prevent an enemy from attacking you.