pre-emption
n 1: the judicial principle asserting the supremacy of federal
over state legislation on the same subject [syn: {preemption}]
2: the right of a government to seize or appropriate something
(as property) [syn: {preemption}]
3: the right to purchase something in advance of others [syn: {preemption}]
4: a prior appropriation of something; "the preemption of
bandwidth by commercial interests" [syn: {preemption}]