preemption — English Dictionary

Noun

1. An act or process that preempts; a preventive or forestalling action; as: The purchase of something before it is offered for sale to others.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

2. An act or process that preempts; a preventive or forestalling action; as: The purchase of public land by the occupant.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

3. An act or process that preempts; a preventive or forestalling action; as: The temporary interruption of a task without its cooperation and with the intention of resuming it at a later time.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

4. An act or process that preempts; a preventive or forestalling action; as: The supersession of a conflicting law from a lower jurisdiction by an overlapping law from a higher jurisdiction.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   occupancy

Noun

1. the judicial principle asserting the supremacy of federal over state legislation on the same subject

   Synonyms

   pre-emption

   Broader terms

   legal principlejudicial principlejudicial doctrine

2. the right of a government to seize or appropriate something (as property)

   Synonyms

   pre-emption

   Broader terms

   legal right

3. the right to purchase something in advance of others

   Synonyms

   pre-emption

   Broader terms

   right

4. a prior appropriation of something

   Synonyms

   pre-emption

   Broader terms

   appropriation

   Examples

   the preemption of bandwidth by commercial interests