Meaning & use
preempt
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To act first so that a problem or rival move cannot happen or loses its effect.
Grammar: Takes an object: preempt a complaint.
Patterns
- preempt something
- preempt someone
The mayor preempted criticism by publishing the budget early.
She preempted his question by explaining the delay.
Companies sometimes cut prices to preempt a rival's launch.
verbtransitiveAmerican
To replace a scheduled television or radio program with something else, such as urgent news.
Grammar: Often used in the passive: the show was preempted.
Patterns
- be preempted by something
The series was preempted by coverage of the storm.
Tonight's game will be preempted by a special report.
verbtransitiveformallegal
To take something for yourself before others can, especially land or a right.
Grammar: Formal, mostly legal or historical.
Patterns
- preempt something
Settlers preempted the best farmland.
The federal law preempts conflicting state rules.
Word forms
| third person singular | preempts |
|---|---|
| past tense | preempted |
| past participle | preempted |
| -ing form | preempting |
Common combinations
- preempt criticism
- He preempted criticism by apologizing first.
- preempt a strike
- The army preempted a strike by striking first.
- preempt a question
- I'll preempt your question: yes, it's free.
- be preempted by
- The comedy was preempted by the news.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forestall
- Close in meaning, with stress on stopping something before it starts.
- anticipate
- Only expecting and preparing, without necessarily blocking it.
- head off
- Informal; to intercept a problem before it grows.
Word family
- preemptive adjective
- done in advance to stop something
- preemption noun
- the act of preempting
Commonly confused: preempt or prompt?
preempt vs prompt
Prompt means to cause or remind; preempt means to act first to stop something.
Practice
The manager called a meeting to ___ the staff's complaints before they spread.
Choose one answer.
Preempt means act first to stop something. Precede only means come before, with no sense of preventing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “preempt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.