Preempting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Taking action in advance to prevent something from happening or to gain an advantage ; substituting or interrupting a planned program or event usually in broadcasting
2. Acting ahead of others to forestall a potential outcome or seize an opportunity ; temporarily replacing an expected broadcast or airing
3. Intervening beforehand to stop or undermine an anticipated situation ; overriding a scheduled transmission with alternative content

Etymology: Before it meant pushing aside a broadcast schedule or seizing an advantage, this word was a property right. It comes from Latin "praemptus," the past participle of "praemere," "to buy beforehand," built from "prae" ("before") and "emere" ("to buy"). Medieval Latin developed "praemptio" as a term for the right to buy something ahead of others. In English, the idea was applied most famously to land. Under American land law, "preemption" gave settlers who had already occupied and improved a parcel of public land the first right to buy it before it went to others. The verb grew from this legal sense of getting in first and claiming something before rivals could. The broadcasting sense is a later extension. When a network displaces its regular show to air something more urgent, such as a live event or breaking news, the regular show is preempted. The core idea is unchanged: the new claim comes first and the existing one gives way.

Synonyms: anticipating, forestalling, preventing, intervening, interfering

Antonyms: allowing, permitting, enabling, facilitating, supporting