preemptive

adjective

pre·emp·tive prē-ˈem(p)-tiv

: of or relating to preemption

: having power to preempt

of a bid in bridge : higher than necessary and intended to shut out bids by the opponents

: giving a stockholder first option to purchase new stock in an amount proportionate to his existing holdings

: marked by the seizing of the initiative : initiated by oneself

a preemptive attack

preemptively adverb

Examples of preemptive in a Sentence

The country took preemptive action against the perceived enemy. a preemptive attack by the army

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.

This gives you preemptive anomaly detection and proactive hardware monitoring for macOS and Windows systems. —

PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024 Trump himself has already begun to cast doubt on election processes, with his allies filing more than 100 preemptive lawsuits. —

Andrew Solender, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024 Brooks attempted to silence the accusations even before the woman filed her suit, filing his own preemptive lawsuit anonymously in mid-September. —

Justin Curto, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2024 San Diego Gas & Electric has not reported any areas in its turf that may see preemptive power shutoffs. —

Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for preemptive