Library / English Dictionary

EXPECTATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Belief about (or mental picture of) the future

Synonyms:

expectation; outlook; prospect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

belief (any cognitive content held as true)

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

hope; promise (grounds for feeling hopeful about the future)

foretaste (an early limited awareness of something yet to occur)

possibility (a future prospect or potential)

anticipation; expectancy (something expected (as on the basis of a norm))

apprehension; misgiving (painful expectation)

Derivation:

expect (consider reasonable or due)

expect (regard something as probable or likely)

expect (consider obligatory; request and expect)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The sum of the values of a random variable divided by the number of values

Synonyms:

arithmetic mean; expectation; expected value; first moment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

mean; mean value (an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n)

Domain category:

statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The feeling that something is about to happen

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

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

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

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

anticipation; expectancy (an expectation)

Derivation:

expect (be pregnant with)

expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Anticipating with confidence of fulfillment

Synonyms:

anticipation; expectation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

hopefulness (full of hope)

Derivation:

expect (look forward to the birth of a child)

expect (look forward to the probable occurrence of)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I had opened the volume with some expectation of a revelation, though of what nature I could not imagine.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was growing to have faith in that windlass, for it gave me power beyond all expectation.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"Never mind that. What I want to know is how do you find her? Up to expectations? Has she worn well? Life been all a happy dream ever since?"

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

And so it is that we are travelling towards Galatz in an agony of expectation.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

With a book he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Satisfy the requirements or expectations of.

(Fulfill, NCI Thesaurus)

A document explaining all relevant study information to assist the study volunteer in understanding the expectations and requirements of participation in a clinical trial.

(Consent form, NCI Thesaurus)

These feelings are transitory; each day of expectation delayed fills them with fear, and I almost dread a mutiny caused by this despair.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Issue associated with the interaction and interfacing between devices and users in terms of users' abilities, expectations, and limitations with work environments and system design.

(Human Factors Issue Associated with Medical Device, Food and Drug Administration)

This will be the last blow to Hume, for I know that the Jews have given him rope on the score of his expectations.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)