expect

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR expect ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of: I expect to read it. I expect him later. She expects that they will come.

to look for with reason or justification: We expect obedience.

Informal. to suppose or surmise; guess: I expect that you are tired from the trip.

to anticipate the birth of (one's child): Paul and Sylvia expect their second very soon.

Idioms

be expecting, to be pregnant: The cat is expecting again.

Origin of expect

1550–60; < Latin ex(s)pectāre to look out for, await, equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + spectāre to look at, frequentative of specere; see spectacle

Related formsex·pect·a·ble, adjectiveex·pect·a·bly, adverbex·pect·ed·ly, adverbex·pect·ed·ness, nounex·pect·er, nounex·pect·ing·ly, adverbo·ver·ex·pect, verbpre·ex·pect, verb (used with object)un·ex·pect·a·ble, adjectiveun·ex·pect·a·bly, adverbun·ex·pect·ing, adjectiveun·ex·pect·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for expect

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR expect ON THESAURUS.COM

1. Expect, anticipate, hope, await all imply looking to some future event. Expect implies confidently believing, usually for good reasons, that an event will occur: to expect a visit from a friend. Anticipate is to look forward to an event and even to picture it: Do you anticipate trouble? Hope implies a wish that an event may take place and an expectation that it will: to hope for the best. Await ( wait for ) implies being alert and ready, whether for good or evil: to await news after a cyclone.

Usage note

3. This sense of expect ( I expect you went with them. I expect you want to leave now. ) is encountered in the speech of educated people but seldom in their writing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for expect

foresee, predict, await, forecast, suppose, take, think, hope, require, demand, conjecture, surmise, look, figure, contemplate, reckon, apprehend, gather, feel, assume

Examples from the Web for expect

Contemporary Examples of expect

The resources were what you might expect: Dining room, a media center, a library, a TV room, a meeting room, a computer room.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside
Justin Rohrlich
January 3, 2015
Plus, expect outside players to take actions related to the conflict.
In the Middle East, the Two-State Solution Is Dead
Dean Obeidallah
January 2, 2015
The relationships, and motivations of their chief participants, are as tangled and shady as you expect of the super-rich.
The Real-Life ‘Downton’ Millionairesses Who Changed Britain
Tim Teeman
December 31, 2014
You expect soldiers of all ranks to understand the need to respect the chain of command, regardless of personal feelings.
We Need Our Police to Be Better Than This
Nick Gillespie
December 31, 2014
The name that most Republicans seem both to expect and dread to consider running is Vito Fossella.
The Felon Who Wouldn’t Leave Congress
Ben Jacobs, David Freedlander
December 23, 2014

Historical Examples of expect

And can you expect the youth of Athens to be wiser than their gods?
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
I am, in other words, an investment from which they expect large returns.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Now the folks out in this part of the country have come to expect it from a man like him.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Now tell me just what you expect a woman in my position to do.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He is one of the few foreigners who expect a rational answer.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson

British Dictionary definitions for expect

expect

verb (tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)

to regard as probable or likely; anticipatehe expects to win

to look forward to or be waiting forwe expect good news today

to decide that (something) is requisite or necessary; requirethe boss expects us to work late today

Word Origin for expect

C16: from Latin exspectāre to watch for, from spectāre to look at

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for expect

1550s, "wait, defer action," from Latin expectare/exspectare "await, look out for, desire, hope," from ex- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + spectare "to look," frequentative of specere "to look at" (see scope (n.1)).

Figurative sense of "anticipate, look forward to" developed in Latin, attested in English from c.1600. Used since 1817 as a euphemism for "be pregnant." Related: Expected; expecting.

Idioms and Phrases with expect

expect

see when least expected.