FORESEE

[fore.see] vt -saw ; -seen ; -see.ing (bef. 12c): to see (as a development) beforehand -- fore.seer n syn foresee, foreknow, divine, anticipate mean to know beforehand. foresee implies nothing about how the knowledge is derived and may apply to ordinary reasoning and experience "economists should have foreseen the recession". foreknow usu. implies supernatural assistance, as through revelation "if only we could foreknow our own destinies". divine adds to foresee the suggestion of exceptional wisdom or discernment "was able to divine Europe's rapid recovery from the war". anticipate implies taking action about or responding emotionally to something before it happens "the waiter anticipated our every need".