variants or pre-screen
prescreened or pre-screened; prescreening or pre-screening

transitive verb

1
: to screen (someone or something) in a preliminary way
prescreen job applicants
… a prescreened and carefully selected audience … Noemie Emery
A computer could prescreen mammograms, and then radiologists would view only those images that contain suspicious signs. Karen F. Schmidt
2
: to show a preliminary screening of (something, such as a film)
… of those 10 movies, more than half weren't pre-screened for the critics. Richard Freedman

Examples of prescreen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Do your due diligence and prescreen your partners. Steer clear of fraud before entering into a partnership or service agreement by pre-screening potential carrier and shipping partners. Bek Abdullayev, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 Washington should expand its Container Security Initiative, developed after the 9/11 attacks, to prescreen containers coming in and out of Central American ports. Claudia Escobar Mejía, Foreign Affairs, 26 Nov. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of prescreen was in 1923

Dictionary Entries Near prescreen

Cite this Entry

“Prescreen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prescreen. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

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