EXPECTANCY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does expectancy mean? 

• EXPECTANCY (noun)
  The noun EXPECTANCY has 2 senses:

1. an expectation

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

  Familiarity information: EXPECTANCY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPECTANCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An expectation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

anticipation; expectancy

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

expectation (the feeling that something is about to happen)

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

suspense (excited anticipation of an approaching climax)

fever (intense nervous anticipation)

hope (a specific instance of feeling hopeful)

Derivation:

expectant (marked by eager anticipation)

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 ("expectancy" is a kind of...):

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

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

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

Derivation:

expect (look forward to the probable occurrence of)

 Context examples 

For example, having 10 or more drinks per week was linked with one to two years shorter life expectancy.

(Drinking more than five pints a week could shorten your life, University of Cambridge)

In the next step of the study, the authors revealed similar trends, with participants whose overall diets were high and low in carbohydrates having a shorter life expectancy than those with moderate consumption.

(Moderate Carbohydrate Intake May be Best for Health, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In reply she pressed her open fingers against his lips, placed them graciously and playfully, and in expectancy of the kiss that of old had always been a consequence.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When half a year wasted in vain expectancy, my hope died out, and then I felt dark indeed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

For the distance of twenty feet Wolf watched him go, himself all eagerness and expectancy, as though waiting for the man to turn and retrace his steps.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Patients usually have a normal life expectancy.

(Bonnevie-Ullrich Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

The disease follows a benign course and is compatible with a normal life expectancy, requiring occasionally partial excision or decompression for relief of pain or other symptoms.

(Peritoneal Multicystic Mesothelioma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A molecule designed at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (ICB-USB) may increase the quality of life and life expectancy of people suffering from congestive heart failure.

(Molecule created in Brazil helps fight heart failure, Agência Brasil)

One might have thought already that God’s curse hung heavy over a degenerate world, for there was an awesome hush and a feeling of vague expectancy in the sultry and stagnant air.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On Christmas night, a dozen girls piled onto the bed which was the dress circle, and sat before the blue and yellow chintz curtains in a most flattering state of expectancy.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)