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

General admission tickets go on sale beginning 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 14, but presale tickets went on sale Wednesday. —John Tufts, IndyStar, 2 July 2025

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, June 26, a day after presale tickets are available to fans who signed up on the official website. —Greg Evans, Deadline, 24 June 2025

Noun

Additional presales through Live Nation, Ticketmaster, the venue, radio partners, and support acts will begin on April 24 at 10 a.m. CT and remain open until 10 p.m. CT that evening. —Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster, with presale beginning Thursday using code BPC. —Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 24 June 2025

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