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/prˈiˌɛmpt/ Listen

verb

Preempt v. t. & v. i. (past & past part. preempted; pres. part. preempting)

To settle upon (public land) with a right of preemption, as under the laws of the United States; to take by preemption. (Also spelled pre-empt)

To acquire or take for oneself first (an object or right), thereby preventing others from acquiring; to appropriate; to arrogate.

To supplant or take the place of (an action), due to changes in circumstances or priorities; as, the regular meeting was preempted by an emergency conference.

To prevent or delay (an event) by acting beforehand; to head off; to preclude.

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Etymology of 'Preempt'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Preempt" Quotes from Famous Books

... over here. Hardships only add zest to the game. Another reason is that it is all a fine big gamble to them. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose. It's the same spirit that drives young New Englanders out west to try their luck, to preempt homesteads in the Northwest, to till the prairies. Another reason is that they come over here free—unbound by conventions. They can work as they please, live as they please. They haven't any caste to hamper them. Another reason is that, ...

— One Way Out - A Middle-class New-Englander Emigrates to America • William Carleton

... his affection for her. She forgets too often that she is not called upon to give up her friends. They can come, and do come, when her husband is away at his work, while his friends, if they come at all, must come in his leisure hours which she often wishes to preempt for herself alone. It is the most short-sighted of follies for a woman to try to sweep clean of all former interests and friendships the life of the man with whom she is to try ...

— The Family and it's Members • Anna Garlin Spencer

... ploughing where there are no rocks to obstruct him. The farmer of Ohio does not expect to find better soil than he leaves; but his inducements are that he can sell his land at forty or fifty dollars an acre, and preempt as good in Minnesota for a dollar and a quarter an acre. This operation leaves him a surplus fund, and he becomes a more opulent man, with better means to adorn his farm and to educate ...

— Minnesota and Dacotah • C.C. Andrews

... the "PREEMPTION" plan, by which actual settlers could "preempt" land (get the first right to it) by merely taking possession and paying a cash price of $1.25 ...

— Community Civics and Rural Life • Arthur W. Dunn