presale

1 of 2

adjective

pre·​sale ˌprē-ˈsāl 

variants or pre-sale

1

: done, existing, or occurring before a sale

a presale party/tour/exhibition

presale expectations

a presale disclosure

Sotheby's pre-sale estimate was $12,000-15,000, but early bidding indicated that the final sales price would go far higher.

—R. O. Blechman

2

: of, relating to, being, or involving a presale

She paid $30 to join the … fan club, which gives members access to presale tickets.

—Marco R. della Cava

presale orders for the book

bought a presale condo

presale

2 of 2

noun

variants or pre-sale

plural presales or pre-sales

: the sale of something before it is completed or available

… the first run of books is nearly sold out in presale on Amazon.

—Brooke Edwards

As stated earlier, a presale is literally a sale of your film to a particular territory before the film is made.

—Stacey Parks

… said most developers would now need a large number of presales to get bank backing.

—Susan Edmunds

Tickets go on sale to the general public May 14. Select presales begin May 7.

—Andrew Gans

Sources have told The Wall Street Journal that Apple has "sold hundreds of thousands" of iPads since the device went on presale March 12.

—Erica Ogg

Examples of presale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The state will then have three months to establish a presale voucher process for each group. —Cbs Miami Team, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026

Passes for the Opening Ceremonies will set you back between $329 and $5,519 for a single seat, though the first round of cheaper presale tickets had already sold out by Friday morning. —James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2026

Noun

Universal and Imax did a presales stunt last summer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, putting tickets on sale for 70MM Imax shows a year in advance of its opening weekend (July 16-19, 2026), with several selling out in 12 hours. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026

Before Thursday’s public on-sale, tickets were available through presales held on April 1 for season ticket members and Official Spurs Fan Club members. —Raul Trey Lopez, San Antonio Express-News, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1917, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1918, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for presale

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email