From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanticipationan‧tic‧i‧pa‧tion /ænˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/ ●○○ AWL noun [uncountable] 1 EXPECTwhen you are expecting something to happen She waited in eager anticipation for Robert to arrive. Taylor was excited and full of anticipation at the prospect of the trip.2 → do something in anticipation of something
Examples from the Corpus
anticipation• By rights, she knew she ought to be feeling extra anticipation now.• We looked out the windows goggle-eyed in anticipation of fiery death.• The king extended the period of the trial in anticipation of objections from the Harrisons' enemies.• In anticipation and retrospect, holidays come into their own.• The crowd's mood was one of anticipation.• Were those somehow frightening sensations of pleasure followed by an instinctive guilt and terrible anticipation? 