pregame

[ pree-geym ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or happening in the period just before a sports game:

   The coach was interviewed in a pregame broadcast.

2. noting or relating to the consumption of liquor before attending a party or other event:

   pregame drinking.

noun

1. an event or broadcast relating to and occurring just before a sports game:

   Thirty people attended the pregame.

verb (used with or without object)

, pre·gamed, pre·gam·ing.

1. to drink liquor before going to (a party, game, or other event):

   We pregamed at my house to save some money.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pregame¹

First recorded in 1910–15; pre- + game ¹

Example Sentences

An NBA spokesperson told the Athletic that “under the unique circumstances of this season, teams are permitted to run their pregame operations as they see fit.”

From Washington Post

Additionally, the NFL’s pregame tailgate party will be broadcast on TikTok, with in-person attendance limited to 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers.

From Popular-Science

Meanwhile, pregame team meetings in the locker room will be limited to 10 minutes and masks are required for all attendees.

From Washington Post

Philadelphia, which sat stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons with minor injuries, played Saturday over Coach Doc Rivers’s pregame objections.

From Washington Post

That game featured a pregame verbal confrontation between Vrabel and Harbaugh.

From Washington Post

The Orioles didn't press, partly because they've come to believe that pregame excuses are essential to Palmer.

From The Daily Beast

The Haka, a traditional Maori dance, is best known as the pregame ritual of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.

From The Daily Beast

The student-run pregame campsite, Paternoville, is now simply calling itself “Nittanyville.”

From The Daily Beast

The endgame of the war was even more poorly played than the pregame.

From The Daily Beast

A pregame rally south of the Washington Monument featured drum circles and papier maché puppets.

From The Daily Beast