preemptor


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pre·empt

 (prē-ĕmpt′)
v. pre·empt·ed, pre·empt·ing, pre·empts
v.tr.
1. To take the place of or take precedence over: Discussion of the water shortage will preempt the other topics on this week's agenda.
2.
a. To take action to prevent (an event or other action) from happening; forestall: "The [Joint] Chiefs ... proposed the use of nuclear weapons to preempt China's anticipated attack on Formosa" (James Carroll).
b. To take action to prevent (another) from acting.
3.
a. To acquire or take for oneself before others; appropriate: "I've preempted the forward compartment [of the boat] with two berths shaped like a V ... to make myself a double bunk" (Joan Gould).
b. To gain possession of by prior right or opportunity, especially to settle on (public land) so as to obtain the right to buy before others.
v.intr. Games
To make a preemptive bid in bridge.

[Back-formation from preemption.]

pre·emp′tor′ (-ĕmp′tôr′) n.
pre·emp′to·ry (-ĕmp′tə-rē) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.preemptor - someone who acquires land by preemption
appropriator - someone who takes for his or her own use (especially without permission)
2.preemptor - a bidder in bridge who makes a preemptive bid
bidder - someone who makes a bid at cards
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
This thinking came from the "great preemptor" himself, lending it additional weight.
He may be a Bodyguard or a Preemptor (or both) (97-8).
[7] In this respect, Reisman noted that: "The claim to preemptive self-defense is a claim to entitlement to use unilaterally, without prior international authorization, high levels of violence to arrest an incipient development that is not yet operational or directly threatening, but that, if permitted to mature, could be seen by the potential preemptor as susceptible to neutralization only at a higher and possibly unacceptable cost to itself".
O prazo de preferencia e decadencial, logo, se nao ocorrer o oferecimento do bem ao preferente ou, se oferecido, nao for por ele aproveitado dentro desse espaco temporal, o preemptor perde o direito a preferencia (45).
Julian recalled, "It was never dreamed that any one in the occupancy of that land was a preemptor. If it had been the committee would not have interfered with his rights under the laws of Congress." With minimal opposition, the Senate passed the bill on May 17, 1864.
It draws on research originally involving macaque monkeys: the activation that occurs in the monkey's preemptor cortex when watching someone else engaging in a certain activity.
On its Web site, the American Advertising Federation says it protects and promotes advertising at all levels of government and works to "encourages industry self-regulation as a preemptor to government intervention, when appropriate."
at 13 ("The most essential distinction between preemption and prevention is that the former option, uniquely, is exercised in or for a war that is certain, the timing of which has not been chosen by the preemptor. In every case, by definition, the option of preventive war, or of a preventive strike, must express a guess that war, or at least a major negative power shift, is probable in the future.
No, says Skowronek: The Clinton presidency displayed the classic characteristics of the preemptor, including the impeachment trial that virtually concluded it.
(113) That Project examined all military conflicts from 1816 to 1980 (114) between recognized states involving at least 1,000 combatant casualties, (115) and defined a strike as "preemptive" if a belief by the preemptor that it would suffer an attack within sixty days was a primary motivation.
(33) He concluded that there is no justice in the argument that a preemptor, after having made valuable improvements on a claim, and complied with all the conditions of title which were within his power, may nevertheless be driven from his possession, his improvements confiscated, and land conveyed to another.