EXPECTANT

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In an advanced stage of pregnancy

Example:

was great with child

Synonyms:

big; enceinte; expectant; gravid; great; heavy; large; with child

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

pregnant (carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life)

Derivation:

expect (be pregnant with)

expect (look forward to the birth of a child)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Marked by eager anticipation

Example:

an expectant hush

Synonyms:

anticipant; anticipative; expectant

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

hopeful (having or manifesting hope)

Derivation:

expect (regard something as probable or likely)

expect (look forward to the probable occurrence of)

expectancy (an expectation)

Credits

Context examples:

They had made short work of the snowshoe rabbit, these dogs that were ill-tamed wolves; and they were now drawn up in an expectant circle.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Meg colored behind the brake, but asked no questions and looked across the river with the same expectant expression which Mr. Brooke had worn when he told the story of the knight.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My uncle drew on his driving-gloves and arranged his costume with punctilious neatness; but I observed that he glanced up and down the road with a haggard and yet expectant eye before he took his seat.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is remarkable, that Emma, in the many, very many, points of view in which she was now beginning to consider Donwell Abbey, was never struck with any sense of injury to her nephew Henry, whose rights as heir-expectant had formerly been so tenaciously regarded.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Also called expectant management.

(Deferred therapy, NCI Dictionary)

For example, in interviews expectant parents were considered to have a ‘balanced’ representation of their child if they showed positive anticipation of their relationship with the child or showed ‘mind-mindedness’ – a propensity to see their child as an individual, with its own thoughts and feelings.

(Mother’s attitude towards baby during pregnancy may have implications for child’s development, University of Cambridge)

The great fire crackled in the grate, the hooded hawks slept upon their perches, the rough deer-hounds with expectant eyes crouched upon the tiled floor; close at the elbows of the guests stood the dapper little lilac-coated pages; the laugh and jest circled round and all was harmony and comfort.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During expectant management, patients may be given certain exams and tests.

(Expectant management, NCI Dictionary)

His brother and I sat expectant.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Each moment one or the other of us cast expectant glances toward the Ghost.