English

Verb

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

1. To look for (mentally); to look forward to, as to something that is believed to be about to happen or come; to have a previous apprehension of, whether of good or evil; to look for with some confidence; to anticipate; -- often followed by an infinitive, sometimes by a clause (with, or without, that).

   I expect to receive wages.  I expect that the troops will be defeated.‎

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     “[…] 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.

2. To consider obligatory or required.
3. To consider reasonably due.

   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.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To wait for; to await.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616):

     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.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sandys to this entry?)

Usage notes

• Expect is a mental act and has always a reference to the future, to some coming event; as a person expects to die, or he expects to survive. Think and believe have reference to the past and present, as well as to the future; as I think the mail has arrived; I believe he came home yesterday, that he is at home now. There is a not uncommon use of expect, which is a confusion of the two; as, I expect the mail has arrived; I expect he is at home. This misuse should be avoided. Await is a physical or moral act. We await that which, when it comes, will affect us personally. We expect what may, or may not, interest us personally. See anticipate.
• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• anticipate
• look for
• await
• hope

Derived terms

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