prescreen

verb

pre·​screen ˌprē-ˈskrēn 

variants or pre-screen

prescreened or pre-screened; prescreening or pre-screening

transitive verb

1

: to screen (someone or something) in a preliminary way

prescreen job applicants

… a prescreened and carefully selected audience …

—Noemie Emery

A computer could prescreen mammograms, and then radiologists would view only those images that contain suspicious signs.

—Karen F. Schmidt

2

: to show a preliminary screening of (something, such as a film)

… of those 10 movies, more than half weren't pre-screened for the critics.

—Richard Freedman

Examples of prescreen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Washington should expand its Container Security Initiative, developed after the 9/11 attacks, to prescreen containers coming in and out of Central American ports. —Claudia Escobar Mejía, Foreign Affairs, 26 Nov. 2021

Telehealth appointments help prescreen patients for possible infectious diseases. —Nick Kasmik, USA TODAY, 20 July 2023

The most advanced access control solutions allow for customizable workflows that prescreen arrivals for proof of Covid-19 vaccination or Covid-19 testing, as needed for compliance with government mandates or company policy. —Usman Shuja, Forbes, 18 May 2022

Many sellers chose not to prescreen titles, in an attempt at re-creating a sense of in-person urgency in the online market. —Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2022

Many need to prescreen and train volunteers, which is time-consuming. —Amy Dickinson, chicagotribune.com, 16 Jan. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined at sense 2