EXPECT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • 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.)

See images of 'Expect'

Etymology of 'Expect'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Expect" Quotes from Famous Books

... then Papa and I persuaded her, that it would be much less uncivil to leave out all the Misses, than to take one and leave the rest. You know Anne and I are both under seventeen yet, so that nobody will expect ...

— Abbeychurch - or, Self-Control and Self-Conceit • Charlotte M. Yonge

... especial favor—I'm putting into my office a man who had the legal acumen to devise a plan to break the unholy clutch of plunderers who have had this state by the throat for a quarter of a century. I'm simply grabbing you before somebody else gets you. I expect to be governor of this state, and I want my law business looked after by a man who is able to keep up the reputation of the firm. But first of all, my boy, you and I are going back to your home. I think you'll find me a fairly good lawyer in straightening out tangles. I'll know just how ...

— The Landloper - The Romance Of A Man On Foot • Holman Day

... so tender towards you?" she said, "when you are his child? I expect it is because I know that Paul loves you and that you love him. I ought to hate you. I can't understand why I don't. And then everything is ...

— The Day of Judgment • Joseph Hocking

... hard-working girl, and, thanks to the good Doratei Sisters, she sewed so beautifully that very soon Madama allowed her twenty centimes a day. She had to work from eight till eight; but of course she could not expect more than twenty centimes while ...

— Lippincott's Magazine, September, 1885 • Various

... omen of the reception which he was to expect; but a worse followed, when, upon inquiry for his daughter and her husband, he was told they were weary with travelling all night, and could not see him; and when lastly, upon his insisting in a positive and angry manner ...

— Tales from Shakespeare • Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb

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