Adjacent Words

preempt definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a high bid that is intended to prevent the opposing players from bidding [syn: preemptive bid, pre-empt, preempt] v
1: acquire for oneself before others can do so
2: take the place of or have precedence over; "live broadcast of the presidential debate preempts the regular news hour"; "discussion of the emergency situation will preempt the lecture by the professor" [syn: preempt, displace]
3: gain possession of by prior right or opportunity, especially so as to obtain the right to buy (land)
4: make a preemptive bid in the game of bridge

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: back-formation from preemption Date: 1850 transitive verb 1. to acquire (as land) by preemption 2. to seize upon to the exclusion of others ; take for oneself <the movement was then preempted by a lunatic fringe> 3. to replace with something considered to be of greater value or priority ; take precedence over <the program did not appear, having been preempted by a baseball game — Robert MacNeil> 4. to gain a commanding or preeminent place in 5. to prevent from happening or taking place ; forestall, preclude intransitive verb to make a preemptive bid in bridge • preemptor noun

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Preempt Pre*["e]mpt" (?; 215), v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Pre["e]mpted; p. pr. & vb. n. Pre["e]mpting.] [See Pre["e]mption.] To settle upon (public land) with a right of preemption, as under the laws of the United States; to take by pre["e]mption.

Moby Thesaurus

accroach, adopt, annex, appropriate, arrogate, assume, colonize, commandeer, confiscate, conquer, enslave, expropriate, hog, indent, jump a claim, make free with, make use of, monopolize, occupy, overrun, preoccupy, prepossess, requisition, seize, sequester, sit on, squat on, subjugate, take, take all of, take it all, take over, take possession of, take up, usurp