pre-emptive
Britishadjective
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of, involving, or capable of pre-emption
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bridge (of a high bid) made to shut out opposition bidding
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military designed to reduce or destroy an enemy's attacking strength before it can use it
a pre-emptive strike
Other Word Forms
- pre-emptively adverb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The trees were felled "as a pre-emptive action" for a future development proposal to extend the premises at the site.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
It is a pre-emptive strike to an idea that the Fed raised in a four-year-old research paper.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
The pre-emptive, public move by Amodei escalated the spat to Hegseth, after which there was a near-zero chance of reconciliation, an administration official said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Way-marked pistes are generally protected by pre-emptive avalanche blasting, and their snow is flattened and compacted to further reduce the risk.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
BROTHER: You recollect when you first came to this ground, that you told us you had bought the pre-emptive right.
From An Account of Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, or Red Jacket, and His People, 1750-1830 by Hubbard, John Niles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
