▪ I. pre-ˈempt, n.
[f. as next.]
1. A pre-emptive right. Austral. colloq.
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xxiv. (1891) 322 My friend has the run, and the stock, and the pre-empts all in his own hands. |
2. Bridge. A pre-emptive bid.
| 1939 N. de V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. iii. 34 Macleod's pre-empt showed an obvious fear of both major suits, from which he was trying to shut us out. 1959 Listener 8 Jan. 84/2 It [sc. the hand] could qualify for the bolder pre-empt of Four Clubs. 1962 Times 11 July 7/1 Few players would fancy a pre-empt with a two-suiter and two primary controls. 1972 R. Markus Common-Sense Bridge ii. 65 If everybody knows the strength and weakness of your pre-empts they can easily take the right counteraction. 1977 Homes & Gardens Feb. 17 There are two types of hand where you should respond Three No-Trumps in reply to a pre-empt. |
▪ II. pre-empt, v. orig. U.S.
(priːˈɛm(p)t)
[Back-formation from pre-emption, pre-emptive (cf. exempt, exemption).]
1. a. trans. To obtain by pre-emption; hence (U.S.), to occupy (public land) so as to establish a pre-emptive title. Also absol.
| 1857 Nat. Intelligencer (Washington) 1 July (Bartlett), The laws of the United States give the right to any citizen who does not own three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State of the Union..to preëmpt one hundred and sixty acres, by fulfilling the detailed requirements of the act. 1870 B. Harte Luck Roaring Camp (ed. Tauchn.) I. 15 To make their seclusion more perfect, the land on either side of the mountain wall that surrounded the camp they duly preempted. 1885 Science VI. 318 An unscrupulous ‘colonist’ can often preëmpt in several places at the same time. 1890 G. B. Shaw in Fab. Ess. Socialism 5 That specially fertile region upon which Adam pitched is sooner or later all pre⁓empted; and there is nothing for the new comer to pre⁓empt save soil of a second quality. |
b. fig. To acquire or appropriate beforehand, pre-engage. Also intr.: see quot. 1889.
| 1855 L. Oliphant Minnesota & Far West 162 Wal, I guess, if you can find a corner that's not pre-empted, you may spread your shavings there [for a bed]. 1888 Literature (N.Y.) 1 Sept. 276 [The Prohibition party] had unquestionably pre-empted for itself the proud position of the party of the future. 1889 Farmer Americanisms s.v., Colloquially, to pre-empt is to take possession, or to qualify for. Thus a man may pre-empt for heaven. 1892 Stevenson Across the Plains 283 The honours are pre-empted for other trades. 1913 J. London Valley of Moon 11 Many [tables and benches].. were already pre-empted by family parties. 1944 Auden Sea & Mirror in For Time Being 15 Two wonders as one vow Pre-empting all. |
2. Bridge. a. intr. To make a pre-emptive bid.
| 1914 M. C. Work Auction Devel. 313 It is the exceptional case in which it is advisable to preëmpt with an original No Trump. 1920 ― Auction Methods Up-to-Date v. 65 His only chance is to preëmpt so strongly that his first bid will hold the declaration. 1947 S. Harris Fund. Princ. Contract Bridge i. i. 17 When North preempts but does not make a game bid, it is important for South to remember that he must not increase the contract unless he holds three quick tricks. 1964 Official Encycl. Bridge 435/1 The third player is best placed to pre-empt. 1972 R. Markus Aces & Places 35 South opened the bidding with 1 ♠, West doubled and North..pre-empted to 4 ♠, which became the final contract. |
b. trans. To thwart (a player) by making a pre-emptive bid.
| 1964 Official Encycl. Bridge 435/1 The third player..knows that he cannot pre-empt his partner. 1972 R. Markus Common-Sense Bridge ii. 65 Here is a hand..to show how easily you can be pre-empted into a ridiculous contract. |
3. To set aside (one thing in favour of another); to preclude (something); to prevent (an occurrence); to forestall (someone).
| 1965 Sun 6 Dec. 7/7 In American TV you never, never say that a serial has been killed in favour of a new serial. It is always pre-empted. What they really mean is that it has been cancelled and a right established for the next one. 1968 Listener 5 Dec. 768/1, I think the Nazi regime by its own grotesque vileness pre-empted fictional effort. 1976 ‘A. Hall’ Kobra Manifesto xvi. 217 He would kill me when the showdown came unless I could pre-empt him. 1977 B.B.C. Radio 4 News 5 p.m. 11 May (recorded from oral evidence) Federal rights pre-empt State rights. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 675/1 The targets serve to preempt such a situation arising. |
Hence pre-ˈempted ppl. a.; pre-ˈemptible a., capable of being pre-empted; pre-ˈempting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1880 Scribner's Mag. May 102 Rival missionary boards over-run pre-empted ground and obliterate the boundaries of Christian comity. 1883 Century Mag. Sept. 732/1 Some public and preëmpted homestead among the surf-showered rocks. 1886 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 54 As pre-emptible land recedes farther into the West. 1920 M. C. Work Auction Methods Up-to-Date v. 61 With general strength, preëmpting is not necessary or advisable. Ibid. 63 A real preëmpting hand contains an unusual distribution of cards. 1965 H. Kahn On Escalation 287 It [sc. pre-emptive war] denotes an attack made because of a belief that the other side has determined to make an attack on the pre-empting party. 1967 Listener 2 Nov. 570/3 On the subject of ‘pre-empting’—supplanting scheduled programmes in favour of special programmes of public interest—..he had some extremely interesting things to say. |