preemptively

American  

[pree-emp-tiv-lee] / priˈɛmp tɪv li /

Or pre-emptively

adverb

1. before or in preference to other buyers, claimants, candidates, etc..

   TriStar has preemptively purchased the movie rights to Williams’ new novel, the sequel to her debut bestseller.

2. as a measure taken against something anticipated or feared; preventively.

   Knowing I’d be practicing piano for hours every day, I preemptively left polite notes for the upstairs and downstairs neighbors—with cookies attached—apologizing for the noise.

3. Bridge.  (said of bidding) at an unnecessarily high level, as a defensive maneuver to make communication between one’s opponents more difficult.

   The more tricks you are certain of winning, given your hand, the higher the level at which you can bid preemptively.

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Etymology

Origin of preemptively

preemptive ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

The government civil defence department said Sunday that nearly 1,200,000 people had been preemptively evacuated ahead of the approaching typhoon.

From Barron's

"We are preemptively evacuating people in areas that may be high-risk for flooding," provincial rescuer Elson Egargue told AFP by phone.

From Barron's

“So I didn’t want to just kind of preemptively put him in there. I felt good with who we had.”

From Los Angeles Times

The president ignited a firestorm by preemptively blaming the left for Kirk’s killing before anyone knew who the shooter was.

From Salon

Many flocked to field offices to preemptively provide proof of their identities even when they didn’t need to.

From Salon