anticipate / expect
Looking ahead by preparing vs. simply thinking something will happen.
Anticipate means foresee an event and act in advance: They anticipated the shortage and bought extra stock. A common error is to use anticipate to mean only believe an event will happen, as in We anticipate rain tomorrow. For a prediction with no action, use expect: We expect rain tomorrow.
Examples
UseThe train is expected at noon. (believed to be coming)
UseThe city anticipated the flood and moved the archives. (foresaw the flood and prepared)
AvoidThe train is anticipated at noon. (if you mean only that the train is expected)
Dictionaries now also list anticipate meaning “expect.” However, many people still consider this use an error, and they judge the speaker who uses anticipate this way.