EXPECT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Expect

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/ɪkspˈɛkt/ Listen

verb

Expect v. t. (past & past part. expected; pres. part. expecting)

To wait for; to await. (Obs.) "Let's in, and there expect their coming."

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); as, I expect to receive wages; I expect that the troops will be defeated. "Good: I will expect you." "Expecting thy reply." "The Somersetshire or yellow regiment... was expected to arrive on the following day."

Synonyms: To anticipate; look for; await; hope. To Expect, Think, Believe, Await. Expect is a mental act and has aways 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 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.

Expect v. t. To wait; to stay. (Obs.)

noun

Expect n. Expectation. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Expect'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Expect" Quotes from Famous Books

... nevertheless? Shall not He who cried, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?" be justified by having it proved to all the world that God had not forsaken Him? But we surely cannot be more just than God. If we expect God to do right, we shall surely "find that He has done right, and more right than we could expect or dream. Therefore we may believe—I say that we must believe, if we be truly reasonable beings—what the Bible tells us; that Christ, who suffered ...

— All Saints' Day and Other Sermons • Charles Kingsley

... mother returned from Brampton, where she had been nursing a sick lady. Right glad were Johnny and Alie to see her sooner than they had ventured to expect. She brought them a few oranges, to show her remembrance of them. Nor was the old sailor forgotten; carefully she drew from her bag and presented ...

— False Friends, and The Sailor's Resolve • Unknown

... Tanqueray, if their cases had been reversed, could have taken into his Jane's husband. She might have expected Tanqueray to meet her husband, to shake hands with him, to dine with him, but not to feel or to profess affection for him. So Tanqueray would probably expect her to call upon his wife, to receive her, to dine with her, perhaps, but it would ...

— The Creators - A Comedy • May Sinclair

... unchangeableness of his opinions and his immutable abiding by his first statements. After one glance at his square countenance, his steady noncommittal black eyes, the upward bulldog cant of a somewhat massive nose, the firm compression of his long thin lips, one would no more expect him to depart from the conditions of a conclusion than that a signpost would enter into argument and in view of the fatigue of a traveler mitigate and ...

— The Frontiersmen • Charles Egbert Craddock

... I expect will taste good too. However, you look after the moon, father, and leave me and the frying-pan to play ...

— Jacob Faithful • Captain Frederick Marryat

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