They preempted their rivals by releasing the new product first.

preempted 是动词 preempt 的过去式。preempt 由前缀 pre-（表示"在...之前"）和动词 empt（来自拉丁语 emere，意为"拿取"）组成，字面意思是"提前获取"。在商业竞争中指"抢先行动以阻止对手"，即"抢占先机"。