forecast1 nounforecast2 verb
forecastfore‧cast1 /ˈfɔːkɑːst $ ˈfɔːrkæst/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- According to the weather forecast, it's going to stay hot for the rest of the week.
- Apex Corp. has issued its annual sales forecast.
- It is impossible to give an accurate forecast of company sales 10 years from now.
- the weather forecast
- But in recent years concern has been growing that economic forecasts are not up to the mark.
- Each warned after the stock market closed on Friday that profits will fall below analysts' forecasts.
- Food giant Hillsdown Holdings added 8p to 130p after a maintained dividend forecast and boardroom shake-up.
- These forecasts will be based on information on the number of children in a school augmented by headteachers' estimates.
- You want a forecast for the series?
Longman Language Activatorsomething that someone predicts will happen
a statement saying what you think will happen in the future: · Despite their confident predictions, sales of the new car have not been very good.make a prediction: · It's too early to make any predictions about the election results.
a public statement saying what is likely to happen with the weather or with the economic or political situation, based on special or technical knowledge: the weather forecast (=a statement in a newspaper, or on the TV or radio, saying what the weather will be like during the next few days): · According to the weather forecast, it's going to stay hot for the rest of the week.give/make a forecast: · It is impossible to give an accurate forecast of company sales 10 years from now.
a statement that says something will happen, especially made by someone with religious or magical powers: prophecy of: · The old woman's prophecies of disaster were soon fulfilled.prophecy that: · Lij Yasu was never crowned, possibly because he believed a prophecy that if he became king he would die.· Amazingly, the manager's prophecy that the team would get into the first division seems to be coming true.
formal the likely result of a process such as an illness or a series of events that has already started: · Well, doctor, what's the prognosis?· By the early 1990s the prognosis for Communism wasn't at all good.
showing what someone thinks will happen in the future: · More than a century after Marx, the predicted dissolution of capitalism has still not taken place.· There were several arrests for disorderly behaviour, but for the most part the much-predicted violence did not materialize.
: projected figures/sales/profits/results the profits, sales etc that a business expects to achieve considering past and present performance: · Next year's projected sales are 5% higher than this year's.· The company's losses look likely to wipe out the projected profits on the ECR90 project.
information about the weather a description of what the weather will probably be like in the near future, for example on the radio, television, or in newspapers: · The weather forecast predicted blizzards for Scotland.· "Do you think it's going to rain?" "Well it said so on the weather forecast."
a description of the weather conditions now and in the near future, especially one on the radio or television: · There are weather reports every hour to keep you up to date with driving conditions in your area.· And now over to the London Weather Centre for the latest weather report.
informal a short radio, television, or newspaper report saying what the weather is likely to be in the near future: · The news from your area will follow the weather in five minutes time.
what the weather will probably be like for the next few days, especially according to information provided by the radio, television, or newspapers: · I'm afraid the outlook isn't very good -- they say it's going to rain tomorrow.the outlook for tomorrow/the weekend etc: · The outlook for the weekend is for continued sunny weather.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYADJECTIVES/NOUN + forecast
a long-range weather forecast the long-range goal of the project
· The weather forecast for the weekend is fine and dry.
(=a forecast about weather conditions at sea)· According to the shipping forecast, strong winds can be expected later today.
· The gloomy sales forecast sparked rumours that the company would be making job cuts.
· The company has cut its profit forecast by £18m to £570m.
(=one relating to an increase in the value of goods or services produced and sold)· The official growth forecasts for the economy are promising.
· The Bank of England revised its economic forecast in the wake of the figures.
· A detailed forecast of the industry’s prospects has just been published.
(=expecting good things to happen)· In his speech, the president gave an optimistic forecast for the economy.
(=expecting bad things to happen)· Scientists have produced a gloomy forecast on the effects of global warming.
verbs· It is too early to make a forecast on what will happen.
· Economists gave an upbeat forecast for the world economy.
· Analysts usually provide growth forecasts for no more than two years ahead.
(=change it because of new information)· The company has revised its sales forecast.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a long-range weather forecast the long-range goal of the project (=how much a company expects to sell)· The sales forecast is for a 12% increase in sales over the current year.
(=a description of what the weather is expected to be like in the near future)· What’s the weather forecast like for the weekend?
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Good shape despite the dire forecasts still being made by much of the business world?· The most dire forecasts say rising mercury on Earth could bring about both devastating floods and droughts.· That was the rift that grabbed headlines late in 1990, as a result of a dire forecast.· Take the current fascination with dire forecasts, for example.
· The Treasury has stuck to its earlier forecast of a £15 billion current-account deficit this year.· The jobless rate is expected to be an average 8. 25 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 8 percent.
· But in recent years concern has been growing that economic forecasts are not up to the mark.· The government is soon due to publish revisions for its 1996 economic forecasts.· One has only to look at the economic forecasts.· Perhaps they've heard the economic forecast.
· We had beaten his gloomy forecast of 12 minutes and I had sculled the whole course without once catching a crab.· San Diego City Council members began getting concerned about the gloomy forecasts about a month ago.· The gloomy forecast came from Chris Haskins, chairman of the dairy and chilled food business.· Using a historical analysis, Nehring and Van lest provide a rather gloomy set of forecasts.
· The model is then used to estimate the consequences of specified policies different to those assumed in the initial base forecast.· The initial forecast was for 2. 5 million pounds a year, but consumers were clamoring for more.
· The latest hair forecasts are that blond will rebound into prominence, overtaking red, in the next few months.
· In this case, the construction timetable proved wrong, as did very optimistic forecasts concerning the rates of inflation and interest.· But nomatterhow optimistic the weather forecast, keep a raincoat handy if you intend taking a closeup.· The most optimistic forecast severely reduced activity in residential property; others expected static house sales until the end of the year.· The results were wildly ahead of the Democrats' most optimistic forecasts.
NOUN· Shareholders get nothing more than a bald one-year profit forecast.· Olivetti shares have tumbled 15 percent since last week as analysts downgraded profit forecasts.· You can also conduct profit forecasts, identify profitable work and problem areas.· James Capel has, it appears, lopped £25m from its profit forecast and now expects £165m.· City analysts immediately slashed their profit forecasts from around £15m to around £5m.· He added that a downgrading in profit forecasts was normal in a recession.
· It may cheer you up to learn that the weather forecast is promising.· The weather forecast was for overcast skies, like three hundred and ten other days of the year in Rochester.· From weather forecasts to climate change, Anthony Wilson looks at causes, effects and extremes of weather.· It covers such a wide variety of conditions that it is less specific than a weather forecast.· None the less, it should not surprise you to know that these people rarely prepare weather forecasts.· And the weather forecast is promising - now, what do you fancy?
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► short-range plan/goal/forecast etc
a description of what is likely to happen in the future, based on the information that you have now: - He was walking in spite of all those specialists and their dire predictions.
- Take the current fascination with dire forecasts, for example.
- That was the rift that grabbed headlines late in 1990, as a result of a dire forecast.
- The dire warnings of world shortages have not come to pass.
- The crisis has unsettled financial markets and brought dire predictions of revolution or civil war from some politicians.
- The most dire forecasts say rising mercury on Earth could bring about both devastating floods and droughts.
- When a highly qualified professional makes such a dire prediction, one has to sit up and take notice.
The weather forecast is good for tomorrow.profit/sales/growth forecast the company’s annual sales forecastCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + forecasta weather forecast· The weather forecast for the weekend is fine and dry.a shipping forecast (=a forecast about weather conditions at sea)· According to the shipping forecast, strong winds can be expected later today.a sales forecast· The gloomy sales forecast sparked rumours that the company would be making job cuts.a profit forecast· The company has cut its profit forecast by £18m to £570m.a growth forecast (=one relating to an increase in the value of goods or services produced and sold)· The official growth forecasts for the economy are promising.an economic forecast· The Bank of England revised its economic forecast in the wake of the figures.a detailed forecast· A detailed forecast of the industry’s prospects has just been published.optimistic (=expecting good things to happen)· In his speech, the president gave an optimistic forecast for the economy.pessimistic/gloomy (=expecting bad things to happen)· Scientists have produced a gloomy forecast on the effects of global warming.verbsmake a forecast· It is too early to make a forecast on what will happen.give a forecast· Economists gave an upbeat forecast for the world economy.provide a forecast· Analysts usually provide growth forecasts for no more than two years ahead.revise a forecast (=change it because of new information)· The company has revised its sales forecast.forecast1 nounforecast2 verb
forecastforecast2 ●●○ verb (past tense and past participle forecast or forecasted) [transitive] WORD ORIGINforecast2
Origin:
1400-1500 fore- + ➔ CAST1 ‘to arrange cleverly’ (14-19 centuries)VERB TABLE
forecast
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | forecast |
| he, she, it | forecasts | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | forecast, forecasted |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have forecast, forecasted |
| he, she, it | has forecast, forecasted | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had forecast, forecasted |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will forecast |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have forecast, forecasted |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am forecasting |
| he, she, it | is forecasting | |
| you, we, they | are forecasting | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was forecasting |
| you, we, they | were forecasting | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been forecasting |
| he, she, it | has been forecasting | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been forecasting |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be forecasting |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been forecasting |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Hardly anyone had forecast that the drought would last so long.
- Property analysts forecast a fall in house prices.
- Rain is forecast for all parts of southern England tomorrow.
- Wind and rain has been forecast for this weekend.
- Analyzing the past, forecasting the future.
- The company forecast further growth in 1996.
- The fixed interest rate means you know exactly your commitment each month, which saves problems with forecasting your cashflow.
- Then on Wednesday night he forecast that interest rates would drop - fuelling the City boom.
THESAURUS
to say that something will happen, before it happens: · In the future, it may be possible to predict earthquakes.· Scientists are trying to predict what the Amazon will look like in 20 years' time.
to say what is likely to happen in the future, especially in relation to the weather or the economic or political situation: · They’re forecasting a hard winter.· Economists forecast that there would be a recession.
to say what the amount, size, cost etc of something is likely to be in the future, using the information you have now: · The world’s population is projected to rise by 45%.
especially spoken be able to know what will happen in the future: · No one can say what the next fifty years will bring.· I can’t say exactly how much it will cost.
to say correctly what will happen in the future, using special religious or magical powers: · The woman claimed that she had the gift of foretelling the future.· It all happened as the prophet had foretold.
to say that something will happen because you feel that it will, or by using special religious or magical powers: · He’s one of those people who are always prophesying disaster.· The coming of a great Messiah is prophesied in the Bible.· He prophesied that the world would end in 2012.· Marx prophesied that capitalism would destroy itself.
to know that something is going to happen before it happens: · They should have foreseen these problems.· No one foresaw the outcome of the war.
to have a strange feeling that something is about to happen, especially something bad, usually just before it happens: · Suddenly I had a strange premonition of danger ahead.
Longman Language Activatorto say what will happen in the future to say what you think will happen in the future: · Most of the papers are predicting an easy victory for the Dallas Cowboys.· a major earthquake that no-one had predictedpredict (that): · Some scientists predict that the Earth's temperature will rise by as much as 5° over the next 20 years.
to publicly say what will happen in the future with the weather or the economic or political situation, especially when you have special or technical knowledge: · Property analysts forecast a fall in house prices.forecast rain/fine weather/snow etc: · Rain is forecast for all parts of southern England tomorrow.forecast that: · Hardly anyone had forecast that the drought would last so long.
to say that something will happen, especially because you have religious or magical powers: · It is claimed that Ebba prophesied her own death from the plague. prophesy that: · Jesus prophesied that one of his disciples would betray him.prophesy about: · Her ability to prophesy about the future made many people think she was a witch.
to say what will happen in the future, especially by using magical powers - used in literature and stories: · Nostradamus is said to have foretold the rise of Hitler.· Everything happened as Merlin foretold.
to try to predict what an opponent will do in order to gain an advantage over them: · I just couldn't get the ball past him; he second-guessed me every time.· Second-guessing the bank's next move in the takeover bid proved very difficult.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a long-range weather forecast the long-range goal of the project
a long-range weather forecast the long-range goal of the project (=how much a company expects to sell)· The sales forecast is for a 12% increase in sales over the current year.
(=a description of what the weather is expected to be like in the near future)· What’s the weather forecast like for the weekend?
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· City analysts are forecasting that its contribution could be as much as £80m for the full year.· The company earned 98 cents a share, below analysts forecast of $ 1. 11, according to Zacks Investment Research.· In the bottom-up approach, investment analysts produce earnings forecasts on the basis of detailed research into the firm's activities.· City analysts are forecasting pre-tax profits of £38m this year.
· Total public spending held at planned £244.5 million. 1% growth forecast for 1993.· The rate of growth for 1990 was forecast at between 4.8 percent and 5.2 percent compared with 5.6 percent in 1989.
· For example, it forecast an increase in unemployment of 3,000 for 1986-87; in fact unemployment fell by 6,800.· One forecasts a huge increase in the ever-escalating costs of the Trident programme.· Government is poised to forecast a huge increase in the extraction of aggregates-one third of which go to roads.· And the Retail Motor Industry Federation forecast an increase of 100,000 sales which would boost 1922 figures to around 1.8m.· Overall, we forecast an increase in leisure spending of almost 15 percent between now and 1995.
· Now schools are forecasting more job losses as £7m comes off the education budget.
· None the less, he has cut his full-year profits forecast from £235 million to £220 million.· He has lifted his profits forecast for this year slightly to £950 million and expects a 15 percent rise in the dividend.· They have cut this year's profit forecast by £18m to £570m.· The paper-maker, Bowater, still basking in an optimistic profits forecast for the full year, firmed 7p to 507p.
· At the beginning of the year the government forecast that the rate of inflation for 1988 would be only 32 percent.· Then on Wednesday night he forecast that interest rates would drop - fuelling the City boom.· In 1987, Mr Salvigsen again hit a home run when he forecast that interest rates would spike up.· Paribas also forecasts a rate of 1. 55 marks to the dollar later this year.
· The weather forecast at the time of going to press was good for this time of the year.· Teaching tip Ask pupils to monitor the weather for a week and compare their observations with the local weather forecasts.· Good weather was forecast across the state for Monday.· Never risk parking out overnight without checking the weather forecast for a strong wind warning or the approach of a cold front.· But with more cold weather forecast that's not likely to happen right away.· These satellites are in geostationary orbit and the images that they provide are used primarily in weather forecasting applications.· And his check with expensive weather forecasting services shows this may actually be a warmer-than-expected winter.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► short-range plan/goal/forecast etc
to make a statement saying what is likely to happen in the future, based on the information that you have now SYN predict: - He was walking in spite of all those specialists and their dire predictions.
- Take the current fascination with dire forecasts, for example.
- That was the rift that grabbed headlines late in 1990, as a result of a dire forecast.
- The dire warnings of world shortages have not come to pass.
- The crisis has unsettled financial markets and brought dire predictions of revolution or civil war from some politicians.
- The most dire forecasts say rising mercury on Earth could bring about both devastating floods and droughts.
- When a highly qualified professional makes such a dire prediction, one has to sit up and take notice.
Rain was forecast for the weekend.forecast (that) The Federal Reserve Bank forecasts that the economy will grow by 2% this year.► see thesaurus at predict