Abstract: A selective look-ahead pre-charging technique is used in a CAM having a plurality of row segments that allows pre-charging operations in a row segment to be overlapped with compare operations in one or more preceding row segments. In one embodiment, each row includes four row segments each having a plurality of CAM cells coupled to a corresponding match line segment. The first and second match line segments are pre-charged to enable detection of match conditions therein. The third match line segment is selectively pre-charged in response to match conditions in the first row segment, and the fourth match line segment is selectively pre-charged in response to match conditions in the second row segment. If there are match conditions in all row segments, a match condition is indicated for the row. If there is a mismatch condition in any row segment, a mismatch condition is indicated.