WordNet
n. a surprise attack that is launched in order to prevent the enemy from doing it to you
Usage examples of "pre-emptive strike".
Rising tensions between the Burnouts and the City dwellers have spurred development of weapons, formation of a militia, and pressure for a pre-emptive strike against the Burnouts from the more hawkish factions of the Mandala City government.
They'll start the arms race all over again or even pull a pre-emptive strike!
He thinks the work we did last night was a totally unjustified pre-emptive strike against a landing party of explorers from outer space, and that they only turned nasty in order to survive.
At the same time the British launched a pre-emptive strike against the French fleet in the Mediterrarean, based at Mers el-Kebir in Algeria.
Were the mexican to fail, the Federation would be obliged to bring greater forces to bear, making a massive pre-emptive strike which, in turn, could trigger a wider conflict.
They were, perhaps, most responsible for sowing the seeds that led to the fateful decision to institute the pre-emptive strike at Pearl Harbor.
He, it would be, in the event of a pre-emptive strike by the West, who would coordinate the radar and missile defences with the air defences.
That meant the Grand Council would have to order a pre-emptive strike, a very unpopular idea given the costs and resources.