to preempt
26
6.8
- verb
- /priˈɛmpt/
- US
:
adelantarse a
- And they wanted to preempt the chaos that that kind of thing had historically caused.
- preempt state law
- preempt state regulation
- preempt local law
So we will preempt a light for a train.
- So we will preempt a light for a train.
- And frankly, it's an antidote that would help to preempt a crisis.
- In my view, trying to preempt a future war that threatens their very existence.
- I don't think he's trying to be evil here at all, just to preempt those counts.
- So just to kind of preempt the usual NVIDIA conspiracy theories, we'll quote Gordon of PC World.
- You begin to see things that allow you to preempt the kinds of problems that used to cause people to die or have major illnesses from food borne issues.
- They decide that they need to preempt the French post war return as quickly as possible and launch a nationwide insurrection a couple of days later.
- I think it a little bit preempts what we expect Biden to do anyway.
- And then with you decrease the amount of people in the cog, you preempt.
- Howdy, I am jumping in to preempt myself to tell you about something you need to know about.
- Because even if she wants, which she did put in her points, I can't get a tree that I would like before Thanksgiving so I can preempt the situation.
Examples
-
On television, all the stations had preempted regular programming to broadcast the mourning for the Pope's death.
Fiction book (1990) -
And frankly, it's an antidote that would help to preempt a crisis.
-
I mean, I want to preempt this whole situation.
-
I want to preempt a hearing.
-
This was to preempt the negative reviews.
-
As it is now written, the bill would preempt local government regulation of pesticides.
Academic text (1992) -
The White House hoped to quell congressional concerns and preempt more radical reforms.
Academic text (1991) -
Gorbachev apparently assumed that by making a negative example of Lithuania, he could preempt other nationalist protests.
Academic text (1990) -
The plaintiffs alleged that the state, by enacting comprehensive legislation, preempted the field of sewage sludge land application.
Academic text (1999) -
The company decided to preempt any potential issues by addressing the concerns of their customers first.
Synonyms
293
3.7
To prepare for something before it happens
17
7.1
Act early to stop a problem from happening
To act before something happens to stop it
Antonyms
How Proactive
Surface Forms
Morphology
preempt = pre + empt
The prefix 'pre-' ('before') is transparent, but the root 'empt' is not a standalone English word, so the full meaning is only partly inferable from components.
Etymology
Preempt comes from the Latin parts pre- 'before' and emere 'to buy', which gave the idea of taking something first so others cannot. So to preempt someone is to act ahead of them to prevent or control what happens.