pre-game

Noun

pregame (plural pregames)

1. A social gathering of friends who get together to drink before going out to a party or a sports game, in order to generate a slight feeling of intoxication before going out for the night.
   • When the Brooklyn Nets are in town, there are office parties and tieless finance guys and pregame groups, like the one that showed up Wednesday night to celebrate the reunion of two old friends with a meal and some basketball (the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, later trounced the home team).2013 February 2, Alan Feuer, “A Pregame Reunion in Brooklyn”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2023
2. A television show preceding a sports game wherein commentators discuss that game.
   • "Hey sport, do you want to watch the pregame?" asked Justin.2006, Greg Giesen, Ask Dr. Mac: Take the Journey to Authentic Leadership, page 43
3. (figuratively) A period of time before an important event.
   • You can see the entire thing on SpaceX’s website. It looks long—45 whole minutes!—but there’s really only a 20-minute pregame, and then the rocket takes off, and then it flies and the stages separate and then it lands.2015 December 23, Robinson Meyer, “When a Rocket Launch Is a Cultural Event”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 04 Mar 2016

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