expect definition | Dictionary.com

ex⋅pect

[ik-spekt]

–verb (used with object)

1.	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.

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

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

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

—Idiom

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

Origin:
1550–60; < L ex(s)pectāre to look out for, await, equiv. to ex- ex- ¹ + spectāre to look at, freq. of specere; see spectacle

Related forms:

ex⋅pect⋅a⋅ble, adjective

ex⋅pect⋅a⋅bly, adverb

ex⋅pect⋅ed⋅ly, adverb

ex⋅pect⋅ed⋅ness, noun

ex⋅pect⋅er, noun

ex⋅pect⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
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 Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To expect

ex·pect (ĭk-spěkt')

v. ex·pect·ed, ex·pect·ing, ex·pects

v. tr.

1. To look forward to the probable occurrence or appearance of: expecting a telephone call; expects rain on Sunday.
2. To consider likely or certain: expect to see them soon. See Usage Note at anticipate.
To consider reasonable or due: We expect an apology.
To consider obligatory; require: The school expects its pupils to be on time.
Informal To presume; suppose.

v. intr.

To look forward to the birth of one's child. Used in progressive tenses: His sister is expecting in May.
To be pregnant. Used in progressive tenses: My wife is expecting again.

[Latin exspectāre : ex-, ex- + spectāre, to look at, frequentative of specere, to see; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]
ex·pect'a·ble adj., ex·pect'a·bly adv., ex·pect'ed·ly adv., ex·pect'ed·ness n.

Synonyms: These verbs relate to the idea of looking ahead to something in the future. To expect is to look forward to the likely occurrence or appearance of someone or something: "We should not expect something for nothing—but we all do and call it Hope" (Edgar W. Howe).
Anticipate sometimes refers to taking advance action, as to forestall or prevent the occurrence of something expected or to meet a wish or request before it is articulated: anticipated the attack and locked the gates.
The term can also refer to having a foretaste of something expected: anticipate trouble.
To hope is to look forward with desire and usually with a measure of confidence in the likelihood of gaining what is desired: I hope to see you soon.
To await is to wait expectantly and with certainty: eagerly awaiting your letter.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Expect

Ex*pect"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expected; p. pr. & vb. n. Expecting.] [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]

1. To wait for; to await. [Obs.]

Let's in, and there expect their coming. --Shak.

2. 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." --Shak. "Expecting thy reply." --Shak.

The Somersetshire or yellow regiment . . . was expected to arrive on the following day. --Macaulay.

Syn: To anticipate; look for; await; hope.

Usage: 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

Ex*pect"\, v. t. To wait; to stay. [Obs.] --Sandys.

Expect

Ex*pect"\, n. Expectation. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : expect

Spanish: esperar,

German: erwarten,

Japanese: 待ちうける

More Translations »

expect

1393 (implied in expectant), from L. expectare "await, hope," from ex- "thoroughly" + spectare "to look," freq. of specere "to look at" (see scope (1)). Fig. sense of "anticipate, look forward to" developed in Latin. Used since 1817 as a euphemism for "be pregnant."

Main Entry: ex·pect
Pronunciation: ik-'spekt
Function: intransitive verb
: to be pregnant : await the birth of one's child —used inprogressive tenses expecting next month>

expect language, tool
A Unix tool written in Tcl and a script language for automating the operation of interactive applications such as telnet, FTP, passwd, fsck, rlogin, tip, etc.. Expect can feed input to other programs and perform pattern matching on their output. It is also useful for testing these applications. By adding Tk, you can also wrap interactive applications in X11 GUIs.
(http://expect.nist.gov/).
["expect: Scripts for Controlling Interactive Tasks", Don Libes, Comp Sys 4(2), U Cal Press Journals, Nov 1991].
(1997-06-09)

expect

see when least expected.

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