anticipate

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1. Here lies another of the great usage battlegrounds, where the conflict is all the more fraught for overlapping meanings that confuse the issue. The two primary and undisputed meanings are (1) to be aware of (a thing) in advance and act accordingly (e.g.

Lecky has anticipated what the animal liberationists are now saying—Listener, 1983)

and (2) to forestall (a person) and take action before they do (e.g.

I'm sorry—do go on, I did not mean to anticipate you—John Le Carré).

2. Fowler scornfully rejected a third meaning, to expect or foresee (e.g.

Wing mirrors were selling better than they had ever anticipated—Margaret Drabble, 1987

They have every right to be there, and we do not anticipate any change in that status—USA Today, 1988

One would not expect Cleopatra to have suffered such a fate, nor did she herself anticipate it—A. Fraser, 1988).

This meaning was formerly classed as 'disputed' in successive editions of the Concise Oxford Dictionary but in the current (2006) edition, and in the larger Oxford Dictionary of English (2003), it is placed first without any comment as (comfortably) the dominant sense, with the definition 'to regard as probable'. Like expect, it can be followed either by a noun or noun phrase (She anticipated scorn on her return to the theatre) or by a that-clause (It was anticipated that the rains would slow the military campaign). Despite its wide currency, however, it can still irritate more traditional readers (and listeners), perhaps because it is an ugly word compared with the more elegant and straightforward alternative expect.

Previous:	anterior, antenna, ante-, anti-
Next:	anxious, any, apart from, aside from

verb

1. To know in advance: divine, envision, foreknow, foresee, see. See foresight, see/not see.
2. To look forward to confidently: await, bargain for (or on), count on, depend on (or upon), expect, look for, wait (for). Informal figure on. See surprise/expect.

v

Definition: act in advance of
Antonyms: be unready

v

Definition: expect; predict
Antonyms: be amazed, be surprised, doubt

IN BRIEF: To look forward to; to expect.

As soon as she bought the tickets, Sandy started to anticipate her vacation.

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See words rhyming with "anticipatory."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Anticipate.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - se hen til, glæde sig til

Nederlands (Dutch)
verwachten, aan voelen komen, uitzien naar, vóór zijn, voortijdig handelen

Français (French)
v. tr. - s'attendre à, prévoir, pressentir, savourer à l'avance, souffrir à l'avance, escompter, aller au devant de, prévenir, devancer, anticiper sur

Deutsch (German)
v. - erwarten, vorhersehen, vorausahnen, vorwegnehmen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - προσδοκώ, προσμένω, περιμένω, προβλέπω, προμαντεύω, προλαμβάνω (εξέλιξη), προεξοφλώ

Italiano (Italian)
aspettarsi, prevedere, presentire, anticipare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - antecipar, aguardar, fazer de antemão, anteceder, adiantar, acelerar, apressar

Русский (Russian)
ожидать, предвидеть, иметь предчувствие, опережать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - esperar, contar con, prever, presentir, adelantarse a, anticiparse a

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - förutse, ana

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
预期, 期望, 预先考虑到, 预料, 预先做

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 預期, 期望, 預先考慮到, 預料, 預先做

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 을 예상하다, 을 앞지르다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 予期する, 予想する, 前もって対処する, 先手を打つ, 先んじる, 見越して使う, 先取りする, 早める

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يدفع دين قبل استحقاقه, يستبق تنفيذ رغبات الآخرين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮צפה ל-, חזה, הקדים, הטרים, הזדרז והקדים את-‬

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