A pre-emptive action is one you take before the other thing happens — especially before something can hurt you. You move first so you do not have to wait and get hit. The picture people know from the news is a pre-emptive strike: you attack because you believe the other side is about to attack you. In quieter life it shows up too: a pre-emptive apology (sorry before anyone complains), a pre-emptive legal move, a pre-emptive offer. In card games, a pre-emptive bid is a high bid meant to shut other players out. In business, pre-emptive rights let current shareholders buy new shares first — and that sense sits closer to the old idea of taking something before others can. The word is fairly formal, but news and business use it a lot. Though actually, people stretch it and call something pre-emptive when it is merely early or cautious, even if nobody was about to harm them. American spelling often drops the hyphen: preemptive. The verb is pre-empt (or preempt).