expect

English

Etymology

From Latin expectāre, infinitive form of exspectō (“look out for, await, expect”), from ex (“out”) + spectō (“look at”), frequentative of speciō (“see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspɛkt/, /ɛkˈspɛkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧pect
• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Verb

expect (third-person singular simple present expects, present participle expecting, simple past and past participle expected)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To predict or believe that something will happen

   Synonyms: anticipate, hope, look for

   I expect to be able to walk again after getting over my broken leg.

   He never expected to be discovered.

   We ended up waiting a little longer than we had expected

   The doctor said he expected me to make a full recovery.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     “ […] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.

   • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns‎:

     And temperatures are expected to keep rising.

2. To consider obligatory or required.

   Synonyms: call for, demand

   • 1805, Nelson, Horatio via Pasco, John, signal sent at the Battle of Trafalgar:

     England expects that every man will do his duty.

   • 2015, Sajith Buvi, I Am 7.5 Billion Human, page 49:

     I was born and immediately thrown into a society that makes its own rules, standards, and expectations. I am expected to behave. I am expected to deliver. I am expected to live up to the contrived standards of the society.

3. To consider reasonably due.

   Synonyms: hope, want, wish

   You are expected to get the task done by the end of next week.

4. (continuous aspect only, of a woman or couple) To be pregnant, to consider a baby due.
   • 2011, Eva Fischer-Dixon, The Bestseller:

     “You are pregnant?” he asked with shock in his voice. “Yes, Justin, I am expecting a child,”

5. (obsolete, transitive) To wait for; to await.

   Synonyms: await; see also Thesaurus:wait for

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Let's in, and there expect their coming.

   • 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman, A. and C. Black (1868), 24-25:

     The knight fixed his eyes on the opening with breathless anxiety, and continuing to kneel in the attitude of devotion which the place and scene required, expected the consequence of these preparations.

6. (obsolete, intransitive) To wait; to stay.

   Synonym: wait

   • 1636, G[eorge] S[andys], “(please specify the page)”, in A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David. And upon the Hymnes Dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments, London: ], →OCLC:

     I will 'expect until my change in death, / And answer at Thy call

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “expect”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “expect”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “expect”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• except