pregame

noun

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).”

   “P: And what was going on there at Griffin Suite? Julia: A pregame.”

2. A television show preceding a sports game wherein commentators discuss that game.

   “"Hey sport, do you want to watch the pregame?" asked Justin.”

   “Izzy had gone to the bar to catch the pregame.”

   “At the first Super Bowl, the pregame featured the marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling University.”

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.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Taking place before, or in preparation for, a sporting event or other game.

   “Enough already with the predictions. Enough with the pregame analysis. Enough with the sidebars. Enough with the practices. Let the battle begin!”

verb

1. (intransitive, slang)To consume alcohol prior to an event.

   “In some cases, pregaming is a precursor to the “real” drinking that will take place later that night at house parties or bars, but sometimes students pregame in order to get drunk before heading out to social activities[…]”

   “After pregaming, Julia heads to the Kappa Alpha party, where she discovers an unopened bottle of vodka in the basement.”