DictionaryAI

forecast

FOR-kast/ˈfɔɹkæst/SayFOR-kahstUK/ˈfɔːkɑːst/AUS/ˈfoːkɐːst/

Pluralforecasts

Verbforecasts, forecasting, forecast

6 meanings of forecast

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    A statement predicting what the weather will be like in the coming hours or days.

    Saturday's forecast calls for heavy snow across the mountains.

    Farmers rely on the forecast to decide when to harvest.

    Similaroutlook, prediction

    Note

    Weather is the default subject of the noun. With nothing around it, the forecast means the coming weather, as in "the forecast said it'll be blowy." Other predictions need a label, such as a sales forecast or an economic forecast, but this one goes without saying. It narrows the general estimate to the sky, and forecasts that prove too optimistic are a familiar complaint.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To estimate or predict how something will turn out in the future.

    Economists forecast slower growth for next year.

    The company forecasts strong sales for the holiday season.

    Similarpredict, project, anticipate, foresee, estimate

    Note

    Because the verb is built on cast, it usually inflects like cast. Yesterday they forecast rain, and passengers are forecast to use a new line. Forecasted is common, but it is sometimes treated as an error. In careful writing, the unchanged form is the safer choice for both the past tense and the past participle.

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    An estimate of a future condition or outcome, based on present information.

    The company's sales forecast for next quarter looks promising.

    Analysts revised their forecast after the new data arrived.

    Similarprediction, projection, estimate, outlook, prognosis

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To foreshadow something, or to suggest its coming in advance.

    Her early successes forecast a brilliant career in science.

    The novel's quiet opening forecasts the tragedy that follows.

    Similarforeshadow, presage, herald, portend, augur

  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A betting wager in which the bettor predicts the first and second place finishers of a race in the correct order.

    He placed a forecast on the two favorites and won big.

    A winning forecast pays out only if both horses finish in the exact order chosen.

    Similarexacta, perfecta

    Note

    Racing bettors use the word for a wager on the first two finishers in their exact order, the same bet also called an exacta. The name fits, because the bettor is forecasting the whole finish, not just backing a winner. Reversing the two horses loses, so a forecast is a harder bet than simply picking the winner.

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    verbobsolete
    To plan, arrange, or contrive something carefully in advance.
    And, if it happen as I did forecaſt, / The dainteſt diſhes ſhall be ſerv'd up laſt.
    1626, John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge,”
    Note

    Here the forethought is a scheme rather than a guess, and the sense is now obsolete. John Milton, writing in 1626, uses it this way: "if it happen as I did forecast, / The daintest dishes shall be serv'd up last." He is arranging the order of a feast, not predicting one. Modern readers will hear the predicting sense instead, so recognize this meaning in older verse but avoid it in your own writing.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English forecasten (also forcasten), formed from the prefix fore- plus cast. The noun comes from Middle English forecast (forcast).