Anticipate everyone being behind wooded area (9)
I believe the answer is:
forestall
'anticipate' is the definition.
(I know that anticipate can be written as forestall)
'everyone being behind wooded area' is the wordplay.
'everyone' becomes 'all' (all people).
'being behind' says to put letters next to each other.
'wooded area' becomes 'forest' (large wood).
'all' put after 'forest' is 'FORESTALL'.
(Other definitions for forestall that I've seen before include "Avert" , "Obstruct by taking advance action" , "Check" , "Arrive first" , "Hinder by anticipation" .)