ANTICIPATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does anticipation mean? 

• ANTICIPATION (noun)
  The noun ANTICIPATION has 4 senses:

1. an expectation

2. something expected (as on the basis of a norm)

3. the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)

4. anticipating with confidence of fulfillment

  Familiarity information: ANTICIPATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANTICIPATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An expectation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

anticipation; expectancy

Hypernyms ("anticipation" is a kind of...):

expectation (the feeling that something is about to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "anticipation"):

suspense (excited anticipation of an approaching climax)

fever (intense nervous anticipation)

hope (a specific instance of feeling hopeful)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something expected (as on the basis of a norm)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

anticipation; expectancy

Context example:

an indicator of expectancy in development

Hypernyms ("anticipation" is a kind of...):

expectation; outlook; prospect (belief about (or mental picture of) the future)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "anticipation"):

life expectancy (an expected time to live as calculated on the basis of statistical probabilities)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

anticipation; prediction; prevision

Hypernyms ("anticipation" is a kind of...):

abstract thought; logical thinking; reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "anticipation"):

projection (a prediction made by extrapolating from past observations)

prognostication; prophecy; vaticination (knowledge of the future (usually said to be obtained from a divine source))

adumbration; foreshadowing; prefiguration (the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Anticipating with confidence of fulfillment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

anticipation; expectation

Hypernyms ("anticipation" is a kind of...):

hopefulness (full of hope)

 Context examples 

I lay quiet, looking out under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Maud’s eyes were shining with anticipation as they followed me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When I dress (the occupation of two hours), for a great ball given at the Larkins's (the anticipation of three weeks), I indulge my fancy with pleasing images.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Her mouth opened, the saliva drooled forth, and she licked her chops with the pleasure of anticipation.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Monday morning Joe was wild with anticipation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

An important component of this symptom is an inability to feel excitement in anticipation of events; however the brain mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood.

(Marmoset study gives insights into loss of pleasure in depression, University of Cambridge)

Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Anxious mood; worries, anticipation of the worst, fearful anticipation, irritability.

(HAMA - Anxious Mood, NCI Thesaurus)

I enjoyed this scene, and yet my enjoyment was embittered both by the memory of the past and the anticipation of the future.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Many remember how Voyager 2's approach images of Neptune and its planet-sized moon Triton fueled anticipation of the discoveries to come.

(NASA Pluto-Bound Spacecraft Crosses Neptune's Orbit, NASA)

The production of the new Triton map was inspired by anticipation of NASA's New Horizons encounter with Pluto, coming up a little under a year from now.

(Voyager Map Details Neptune's Strange Moon Triton, NASA)