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expectation

Syllabification: (ex·pec·ta·tion)
Pronunciation: /ˌekspekˈtāSHən/
Translate expectation | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of expectation

noun

  • a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future:reality had not lived up to expectations an expectation that the government will provide the resources he drilled his men in expectation of a Prussian advance
  • a belief that someone will or should achieve something:students had high expectations for their future
  • (expectations) archaic one’s prospects of inheritance.
  • Mathematicsanother term for expected value.

Phrases

manage expectations

(also manage someone's expectations)
seek to prevent disappointment by establishing in advance what can realistically be achieved or delivered by a project, undertaking, course of action, etc.:as the White House tries to paint a rosy economic picture, they are also trying to manage expectations the company needs to be very sure it has a hit or it should start managing its customers' expectations

expectation in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of expectation in the British & World English dictionary
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