preempted

verb

past tense of preempt
as in seized
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right the thoughtless teenagers had preempted front-row seats that were reserved for the guests of honor

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of preempted The companies argue that the local claims are preempted by federal laws such as the Clean Air Act. — Callie Patteson, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026 Consider ongoing litigation between state governments and prediction-market companies, where the two sides are debating whether states are preempted from enforcing their gambling laws by a federal law on prediction markets. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 16 Sep. 2026 The rollout was preempted when hackers leaked apparent footage online this week. — Russ Bynum, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026 In May, the Second Circuit ruled that New York’s law was preempted by federal regulations, specifically the National Bank Act. — P.r. Lockhart, Hartford Courant, 13 Aug. 2026 Declare the rules preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill under the Supremacy Clause. — Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 The California Restaurant Association challenged the ban in federal court, saying the city’s ban preempted Energy Policy and Conservation Act rules on energy use of gas appliances, including those in households and restaurant kitchens. — Cam'ron Hardy, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 On July 8, a federal judge in Manhattan denied Kalshi's bid to block New York's regulators, holding the state's gambling laws are not preempted as applied to sports contracts. — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026 This week wasn’t a total loss for SerpApi and Perplexity AI, which did manage to get Reddit’s unjust enrichment and unfair competition claims tossed, since they were both preempted by the Copyright Act. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 31 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preempted
  1. seized
  2. claimed
  3. confiscated
  4. usurped
  5. occupied
  6. grabbed
  7. assumed
  8. appropriated
Verb
  • Meanwhile in 2023, the company seized the opportunity to launch on TikTok Shop with select brands shortly after the platform’s Stateside debut, and has since continued to innovate there through live-selling and cutting-edge creator partnerships.
    — Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The filing cites items that were seized from her home in a federal investigation with no assurance that they will be returned, as well as unauthorized people who gained access to her Los Angeles residence.
    — Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of seized
Verb
  • Regardless of these details, the results rather accurately reproduced the chaos in the brain so many researchers claimed psychedelics caused.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed three Saudis, including a pilot.
    — Samy Magdy, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of claimed
Verb
  • Walker says another goal is getting confiscated turtles back to the wild, but as Kung notes, smugglers commingle different turtles, spreading diseases that must be kept out of wild populations.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Those numbers include 759 false identification cards confiscated, 378 alcohol-possession-by-a-minor violations and 98 fake-ID citations during the calendar-year reporting period, according to Oxford Police.
    — Kelsie Cairns, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of confiscated
Verb
  • But by the end of the movie, Verity is dead and her publishing empire has been usurped by her ghostwriter.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Jason Speaking of football-loving families, the Kelces seem to have usurped the Mannings for the sport’s first family.
    — Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of usurped
Verb
  • Since those moments Birmingham has occupied a central space in the physical and spiritual lineage of America's Civil Rights Movement.
    — Leslie Pariseau, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In the corner of the mall occupied by the Cinemark Rave movie theater, the smell of butter wafted into a lobby with another dry fountain.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of occupied
Verb
  • The store owner grabbed a gun and fired, sending the group fleeing empty-handed, according to FOX13 Seattle.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Protesters grabbed metal barriers blocking off the street and charged a row of cops before the officers were able to pull the barriers away from them.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • Bloomsbury Publishing, which assumed control of the book after merging with Bourne’s previous publisher, returned the rights to the author.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Industry Has Already Faced This Problem Industrial automation has never assumed that instruments, controllers or operators will always behave correctly.
    — Gregory Shahnovsky, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of assumed
Verb
  • Chicago Public Schools should fight for every dollar Springfield owes us, while refusing to make promises to families based on money that has not actually been appropriated.
    — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The deep state had appropriated their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, redeploying it as justification for the massacre.
    — Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of appropriated

Browse Nearby Words

preempt
preempted
preempting
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Cite this Entry

“Preempted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preempted. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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