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premeditate

/priˌmɛdəˈteɪt/
IPA guide

Other forms: premeditated; premeditating

When you premeditate, you are planning ahead. While most people associate this word with crime, let's hope you can think of a better reason to premeditate — like buying groceries before a storm.

When you meditate, you think deeply. The prefix pre- means “before,” so to premeditate means to think about a situation before you’ve jumped into it. If you’ve ever cooked a meal, you’ve premeditated the ingredients you need to get started. In a courtroom you’ll hear about "premeditated murder," which means the accused killer planned out his crime and it wasn’t a crime of passion. Premeditating can be a good thing, but not when it involves murder.

Definitions of premeditate
  1. verb
    consider, ponder, or plan (an action) beforehand
    premeditated murder”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    consider, debate, deliberate, moot, prepend, turn over
    think about carefully; weigh
  2. verb
    think or reflect beforehand or in advance
    “I rarely premeditate, which is a mistake”
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘premeditate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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