expectancyex‧pec‧tan‧cy /ɪkˈspektənsi/ noun [uncountable] 
- We celebrate Passover with joy and expectancy.
- It was the kind of silence that was so complete it had a sort of hum, the noise of expectancy.
- The police often collaborate in producing an expectancy effect.
ADJECTIVE► average· Every soldier knew that average life expectancy at the front was seventeen days.· The average life expectancy of a child with Down syndrome was 9 years in 1910.· Taking a funeral policy can cost less than paying for a funeral plan by instalments but it depends on average life expectancy.· Retirement occurs at age 67 with an average remaining life expectancy of 16 years.· This compares with an average life expectancy in 1975 of 69.1 years for males and 75.2 years for females.· With an average life expectancy, that same beneficiary will collect a monthly check for five years beyond that.· Meanwhile, a war that has cost at least 500,000 lives grinds on, reducing average life expectancy to just 42 years.· She is very old now-extraordinarily old in a country with an average life expectancy of 48.
► long· The countries with the highest proportions of people over 60 and 80, and the longest life expectancy are highlighted.
NOUN► life· Cycling makes you fitter and gives you a better life expectancy.· The average life expectancy of a child with Down syndrome was 9 years in 1910.· With an average life expectancy, that same beneficiary will collect a monthly check for five years beyond that.· His life expectancy was now very limited; it was estimated at between 12 months and two years.· For life expectancy, the picture was similar.· In 1995 life expectancy increased by one year to 65, its first post-communist gain.· Every soldier knew that average life expectancy at the front was seventeen days.
nounexpectancyexpectationadjectiveexpectantexpected ≠ unexpectedadverbexpectantlyunexpectedlyverbexpect
I saw the look of expectancy in the children’s eyes. → life expectancy