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preemptively
[ pree-emp-tiv-lee ]
adverb
- before or in preference to other buyers, claimants, candidates, etc.:
TriStar has preemptively purchased the movie rights to Williams’ new novel, the sequel to her debut bestseller.
- as a measure taken against something anticipated or feared; preventively:
Knowing I’d be practicing piano for hours every day, I preemptively left polite notes for the upstairs and downstairs neighbors—with cookies attached—apologizing for the noise.
- Bridge. (said of bidding) at an unnecessarily high level, as a defensive maneuver to make communication between one’s opponents more difficult:
The more tricks you are certain of winning, given your hand, the higher the level at which you can bid preemptively.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of preemptively1
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Example Sentences
They would either be annexed to a larger unit after defeat, or they would form one preemptively to avoid defeat.
On Monday, Freedom Works, Heritage Action, and Americans for Prosperity preemptively criticized any Ryan-Murray bipartisan deal.
Chase, the biggest retail bank in the metro area, has preemptively closed branches in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
His editorializing aside, he acknowledges that the first statement was issued "more or less" preemptively.
But historians are already preemptively dousing our enthusiasm for the Emancipation Proclamation.
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