/haʊp/.hopen.1
/həʊp/, U.S. /hoʊp//haʊp/. 1.
a. Expectation of something desired; desire combined with expectation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [noun]
hightOE
weenOE
hopec1200
speir1303
espeire1393
esperancec1430
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 193 Habbeð rihte bileue to brunie and hope to helme.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 63 Inhope & insilence schal beon ower strengðe.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. iv. 18 The which Abraham aȝens hope bileuede in to hope.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 78 Hoype my sawle chastisis.
?1504 M. Beaufort tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) iv. vii. 269 Humble hoope.
c1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xv. 3 Art thow not wantoun, haill, and in gud howp.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 225/2 When the Churche was in bondage, and vtterly out of hope.
1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 450 Luik quahair thou licht befoir thou loupe, and slip na certaintie for hope.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xx. 114 Hope is that pleasure in the Mind, which every one finds in himself, upon the thought of a probable future enjoyment of a thing which is apt to delight him.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 91 Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 150 Hope as an anchor firm and sure, holds fast The Christian vessel, and defies the blast.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. xliii. 293 While the public mind was thus suspended between hope and fear.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lvi. 79 I..call To what I feel is Lord of all, And faintly trust the larger hope . View more context for this quotation
1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. 287 This is the emotion of Hope, which is ideality coupled with belief.
b. Const. of (that which is hoped for), or with clause introduced by that, or (archaic) with infinitive.
ΚΠ
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 568 Ne bepæce Ezechias eow mid leasum hopan, þæt God eow..ahredde.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 456 Vor hope þat þer beþ mo.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 28355 In hope of forgiuenes.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 88 In hope to stonden in his lady grace.
c1480 (a1400) St. Vincent 216 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 265 Men..sal haf na hape til vndirstande.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 89 I haiff gret hop he sall be king.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lxviiiv Beyng in good hope that al his affaires should prosperously succede.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 4 I'haue hope to liue, and am prepar'd to die. View more context for this quotation
1659 J. Milton Considerations touching Hirelings 10 In hope..that preaching..would prove gainful.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. 133 It was only in a field of battle that he could assert his innocence with any hope of success.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Voyage viii And still we follow'd..In hope to gain upon her flight.
c. In plural; often in singular sense, esp. in in hopes. Const. as in sense 1b.
ΚΠ
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 523 We will borrow of them to pay your hopes, by this long introduction suspended.
1659 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age ii. i. xviii. 215 They continued still upon their guard in hopes of better times.
1661 A. Marvell Let. 12 Jan. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 17 God be praised, there is all good hopes of her recovery.
1702 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 94 Hearing he was past hopes, I went to visit him the day before he departed.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. ii. 515 I was in hopes you would have shown us our own nation.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 662 Great hopes were entertained at Whitehall that Cornish would appear to have been concerned: but these hopes were disappointed.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 34 His hopes to see his own..Not yet had perish'd.
d. Personified; esp. as one of the three heavenly Graces. (1 Corinthians 13:13.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [noun] > personified
hopec1384
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xiii. 13 Now forsothe dwellen feith, hope, and charite, thes thre.
1782 H. More David in Sacred Dramas v. 113 Fair Hope, with smiling face but ling'ring foot.
1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems 1 Oh! sacred Truth! thy triumph ceased a while, And Hope, thy sister, ceased with thee to smile.
1862 C. Wordsworth Holy Year 48 Faith and Hope and Love we see Joining hand in hand agree.
2. Feeling of trust or confidence. Obsolete except as biblical archaism, with mixture of sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > [noun]
ylevec888
levec950
hopec1000
trothc1175
trusta1200
trutha1200
tristc1200
beliefa1225
tresta1300
traistinga1340
traistnessa1340
fiance1340
affiancec1350
affyc1380
tristening1382
credencea1393
faitha1393
levenessc1400
confidencec1430
credulity?a1439
trustingc1450
confiance1490
credit1533
fiduce1582
confidency1606
confidingness1682
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 350 Geleaffullum mannum mæg beon micel truwa and hopa to ðam menniscum Gode Criste.
c1200 Vices & Virtues 33 Ne haue ðu hope to golde ne to seluer.
1382 J. Wyclif Psalms cxlv[i]. 5 His hope [is] in the Lord his God.
a1400–50 Alexander 1859 So sadly in soueraynete he set neuire his hope.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 261 The formest hoip ȝit that I haue..Is in ȝour grace.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. lv To the whiche saiynges..the freer perceaued hope to be geuen.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Bithynicus in Panoplie Epist. 99 Our private friendship,..upon hope and affiance whereof, I presume to be your petitioner.
1707 J. Freind Acct. Earl of Peterborow's Conduct in Spain 174 My hopes then are all in you.
1867 G. MacDonald Disciple & other Poems xxv Though the sky be dim, My hope is in the sky.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > promise, ground of hope > [noun] > focus of hope
hopec1400
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 713 Þenne arȝed Abraham..For hope of þe harde hate þat hyȝt hatz oure lorde.
c1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine ii. 419 To hem þat be in dwere And eke in hope for to be hange and drawe.
c1480 (a1400) St. Clement 193 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 378 Gret hope had he, þat his modir in þe se was drownyt.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 16 In hoip agane that tha sould neuir meit.
4. transferred.
a. Ground of hope; promise. Frequently in negative in not a hope (in hell) (see also hell n. and int. Phrases 6i). Also used ironically for: an expectation which has little or no chance of being fulfilled; esp. in ints., usually expressing resignation, some hope(s)!, what a hope! See also forlorn hope n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > promise, ground of hope > [noun]
i-wonc1275
wonec1290
likelinessa1450
hopec1480
likelihood1526
promise?1533
show1600
expectance1602
expectation1611
auspiciousness1649
hopefulness1651
promisingness1665
expectancy1696
brilliancy1781
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > [noun] > cause of despair > a poor or faint hope
wanhope1558
forlorn hopea1643
dog's chance1890
Buckley's chance (or hope, etc.)1898
dog's show1898
hope1899
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > expression of despair [phrase]
not a hope (in hell)1923
a snowball's chance in hell1931
a snowball's chance1934
c1480 (a1400) St. Nicholas 579 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 497 Oyl rycht clere..for seknes sere gaf hop and but.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxvi. B There is more hope in a foole then in him.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 850 He which at one blow can kill a Captive, is of the greatest hopes.
1633 J. Ford Broken Heart iv. ii. sig. K Neuer liu'd Gentleman of greater merit, Hope, or abiliment to steere a kingdome.
1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens 349 A Child of great hopes.
1851 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 4) i. 23 Hills, that look'd across a land of hope.
1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xxix. 297 What a hope for a night like this!
1904 P. A. Vaile Mod. Lawn Tennis (1907) 234 It is quite useless to run in on a high bounding, poor length, diagonal service. You have some ‘hope’ if it is down the centre.
1915 F. Palmer My Year of War 231 ‘What hopes!’ was the current phrase I heard among the men in these trenches.
1923 O. Onions Peace in our Time iii. 37 ‘I rather fancied Lovelightly.’ ‘Lovelightly? Not a hope in Hell!’
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. iv. 115 ‘Well, lads, wot's it yer want?’ demanded their hostess. ‘'Cos if it's steaks and chips and feather beds, you've got a bloody hope.’
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. ii. i. 249 If there was enough money behind to rent His Majesty's Theatre, it could go on better still. It amounted to that. ‘What a hope!’ she concluded bitterly.
1933 A. G. Macdonell England, their England xvi. 280 Not a hope!.. The dailies have gone to press ages ago.
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxix. 279 ‘Going to get away with it?’ ‘Not a hope, mate. Not a bleeding earthly.’
1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Diary 20 June in Coll. Ess. (1968) II. lvii. 352 There is a move on foot to get our police records..at Scotland Yard destroyed. Some hope! The police are the very people who would go over to Hitler.
1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident v. 53 ‘Well, you'd better start giving back the money..,’ jeered Tuppy. ‘What a hope!’
1959 S. Gibbons Pink Front Door xvii. 206 Not a hope..not a single bloody ghost of a hope in hell.
1966 ‘K. Nicholson’ Hook, Line & Sinker v. 63 He..wants to put on a good show for her. What a hope.
1966 F. Hoyle Oct. First vi. 60 I've given them the idea I might come up with some explanation... Some hopes.
1967 P. Moyes Murder Fantastical xv. 229 ‘His book is probably in the Lucky Dip.’..Maud made a face. ‘Some hope of finding it in that case,’ she said.
1969 ‘J. Ashford’ Prisoner at Bar iv. 33 I told Mrs. Green we hadn't a hope in hell, but she said it wasn't the money, it was the principle.
1971 C. Egleton Last Post for Partisan xvii. 176 ‘Make sure you get the right mix of weapons and explosives.’ ‘You've got a hope.’
b. A person or thing that gives hope or promise for the future, or in which hopes are centred. Also: spec. a son and heir.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [noun]
to-hopec888
weenOE
hopea1225
thoughta1350
opiniona1425
attentc1430
looking1440
presume?a1500
beliefa1522
expectation1527
expection1532
looking for1532
looking after?1537
expecting1568
imagination1582
expectance1593
suppose1596
expect1597
expectancy1609
apprehensiona1616
contemplationa1631
prospect1665
supposition1719
speculationa1797
augury1871
preperception1871
a1225 Juliana 65 Þu art hope of heale; þu art rihtwises weole.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 23929 Leuedi..þat es nu mi hope.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. i. 1 Jhesu Crist oure hope.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Coloss. i. 27 Christ in you, the hope of glory.
1717 A. Pope Fable of Dryope in Wks. 276 Her tender mother's only hope and pride.
1876 E. Mellor Priesthood viii. 390 If the adult population are the despair of the priests, the children are their hope.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 June 448/4 At the imminent peril of being forcibly married to the odious hope of the rival..dynasty.
c. An object of hope; that which is hoped for.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [noun] > object of hope
hopea1382
expectancya1616
expectance1663
spes1815
white hope1911
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. xiii. 12 Hope that is deferrid tormenteth the soule.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. viii. 24 The hope that is seyn, is not hope.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Titus ii. 13 Lokinge for that blessed hope, and glorious apperenge of the mighty god.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxliii. sig. I2v If thou catch thy hope turne back to me.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 122 The Prince thus frustrated of his first hope, came running.
1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 3 Staking his very life on some dark hope.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly objective and instrumental.
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xii. sig. Pp2 Hope-giuing phrases.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 399 Then hope-cheer'd Noah..Sends forth the Crowe.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Prince Athanase in Posthumous Poems (1824) 105 Baffled with blast of hope-consuming shame.
1822 C. Lamb Compl. Decay of Beggars in Elia 1st Ser. The cheerful and hope-stirring tread of the passenger.
1892 Jusserand French Ambass. 160 The hope-forbidding testimony of Pytheas.
C2.
hope chest n. chiefly U.S. a chest or box in which a young woman hopefully collects articles towards a home of her own in the event of her marriage; cf. bottom drawer n. at bottom n. and adj. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > gifts and payments > [noun] > goods contributed by wife > container for
wedding-chest1874
cassone1882
wedding-coffer1904
hope chest1911
1911 G. Stratton-Porter Harvester xx. 504 It was a big, burl-maple box, designed after the hope chests that he saw advertised in magazines.
1922 M. B. Houston Witch Man vii. 80 The bedspread that three years before she had laid unfinished in Kaid's hope chest.
1959 ‘J. R. Macdonald’ Galton Case (1960) xi. 88 A metal box about the size of a hope chest.
1960 New Left Rev. Nov. 12/2 The bride..had a good six patents dealing with biochemistry in her hope chest.
1973 Welcomat (Philadelphia) 10 Oct. 12 Liza Minelli has just bought her third wedding dress and packed it away along with the others in her hope chest.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
hopen.2
/həʊp/, U.S. /hoʊp/ 1. A piece of enclosed land, e.g. in the midst of fens or marshes or of waste land generally.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field
tye832
hopea1000
fieldOE
field landOE
glebe1387
parka1393
closec1440
outset1506
intake1523
rout1598
fielden1610
town park1701
paddock1808
savannah1882
a1000 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. VI. 243 Mædwægan hop and wassan mæd oð ðone þreos dic.
c1200 Merton Coll. Rec. No. 1259 (Essex) Unam hopam marisci in villa de Westilleberie, quae hopa iacet in extrema hoparum mearum versus orientalem quae vocantur landhope, extendentem versus austrum a hopo Leuenoth.
1323–4 Merton Coll. Rec. No. 1260 (Essex) Unam hopam marisci continentem duas acras cum pertinentiis sicut fossatis undique includitur.
1468 Will of Richard Heyward (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/5) f. 194 Mesuagium vocat. le Bakhous cum quadam domo vocat. le stable & vno hope & vna Wallia.
1500 Will of N. Brown (Somerset Ho.) Crofts lands marshes hopes & walles.
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue 205 I have planted an Ozier hope (for so they call it in Essex, and in some places an Ozier bed) in a surrounded ground, fit before for no vse, for the too much moisture and ouerflowing of it.
2. A small enclosed valley, esp. ‘a smaller opening branching out from the main dale, and running up to the mountain ranges; the upland part of a mountain valley’; a blind valley. Chiefly in south of Scotl. and north-east of England, where it enters largely into local nomenclature, as in Hopekirk, Hopetoun, Hope-head, Dryhope, Greenhope, Ramshope, Ridlees Hope, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > small
dellc1220
hope1378
valleta1647
valleylet1866
1378 in W. H. D. Longstaffe & J. Booth Halmota Prioratus Dunelmensis (1889) 143 Quod nullus eorum succidat bent infra le hopp’ sine licencia.
a1400–50 Alexander 5390 So þai come till a caue..Be~twene twa hillis in a hope, and herberd all niȝt.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 2503 Thorowe hopes and hymlande hillys and oþer.
1542 Newminster Cartul. (Surt.) Introd. 18 Such as inhabyte in one of those hoopes, valyes, or graynes cannot heare the fraye, outecrye, or exclamac'on of suche as dwell in an other hoope or valley upon the other syde of the said mountayne.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 163 Ouer hil and hoip, bank & bra.
a1697 J. Aubrey Nat. Hist. Surrey (1718) IV. 164 A long Hope (i.e. according to Virgil, Deductus Vallis) in the most pleasant and delightful Solitude.
1805 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 151 The hills are every where intersected by small streams called burns. These flowing in a deep bed, form glens or hollows, provincially called hopes.
1893 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Hope,..the inch ordnance map of Northumberland gives seventy-three place names having this termination. In the county of Durham forty such occur.
1895 S. R. Crockett Men of Moss-hags ix. 67 Wide green holms and deep blind ‘hopes’ or hollows among the mountains.
3. An inlet, small bay, haven.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > bend in coast > [noun] > bay or gulf > small
hopec1425
docka1552
cove1590
hole1639
baylet1826
keyhole1851
porth1860
covelet1876
gunk-hole1908
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xx. 2499 And in Saynt Margretys Hope belyve Off propyre nede than till arryve.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 673 Tha tuke land richt far vp into Forth, Into ane place..Sanct Margaretis-hoip is callit at this da.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1379/2 Being by contrarie winds driuen to staie against Erith, at Grauesend, in Tilberie hope.
1756 R. Rolt New Dict. Trade Hope, a station for ships in the mouth of the river Thames, below Gravesend.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xi, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 291 A little hamlet which straggled along the side of a creek formed by the discharge of a small brook into the sea... It was called Wolf's-hope (i.e. Wolf's Haven).
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Hope, a place of anchorage for ships.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hopev.
/həʊp/, U.S. /hoʊp/ 1. † b. With to, for: to look for, expect (without implication of desire): = sense 4. Obsolete. rare.
a. intransitive. To entertain expectation of something desired; to look (mentally) with expectation. Const. †to, †after, †of (obsolete), for; also with indirect passive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [verb (intransitive)]
hightOE
hope971
tristc1200
dreama1393
set1607
to have one's fingers crossed1895
971 Blickl. Hom. 87 We to þinum hidercyme hopodan & hyhtan.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8950 Ah ne hope þu to ræde of heom þat liggeð dede.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 291/97 Ne hopie ich nouȝt þere-fore.
a1400 Cato's Distichs (Fairf.) l. 203 in R. Morris Cursor Mundi (1878) III. App. iv. 1672 Quen þou art atte disese hope ofter better ese.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Lvjv This nauigation..was not brought to the ende hoped for.
1595 T. Bedingfield tr. N. Machiavelli Florentine Hist. v. 140 The Earle..shut himselfe vp in Poppi, not hoping of any aide.
c1600 My Ladyis Pulcritud 26 in Montgomerie's Poems (1887) 279 Houping aganis all houp.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. i. xv. 28 I can hope for no support in the equity of my cause.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 16 Come, hope for the best, said I.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam cx. 173 Hope could never hope too much, In watching thee from hour to hour. View more context for this quotation
1899 N.E.D. at Hope Mod. I hoped for better things from him.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (intransitive)]
hope1303
think1484
expect1779
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 6968 He yn þe feuer lay, And to þe deþe he hopede weyl.
1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner To Friends sig. A7 Neither can I hope for, at either of your hands, any vngentle or discourteous censure.
2. intransitive. To trust, have confidence. Const. †to, †on (obsolete), in (obsolete except as biblical archaism; now only a strong case of sense 1).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > trust [verb (intransitive)]
hopec888
believeOE
trowc1000
levec1175
strusta1250
trista1250
trestc1275
traista1300
affyc1330
assurec1374
restc1384
sover1488
confidea1525
faith1555
relyc1571
build1573
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xlii Hit nys no unnyt ðæt we hopien to Gode.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 256 Ne hi ne hopian on heora ungewissum welan.
c1200 Moral Ode 31 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 221 Ne hopie wif to hire were ne were to his wiue.
a1325 Prose Psalter li[i]. 7 He hoped in þe multitude of his riches.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxvj The lordes lyenge at Caleys, hoping in their frendes within the realme.
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems li. 43 Bot I houp in the goddes Hemene.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms cxix. 49 The word..upon which thou hast caused me to hope . View more context for this quotation
1855 C. Winkworth tr. G. Neumarck in Lyra Germanica 152 Leave God to order all thy ways, And hope in Him whate'er betide.
3. transitive. To expect with desire, or to desire with expectation; to look forward to (something desired).
a. with simple object (= hope for, sense 1). Now chiefly poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > hope for [verb (transitive)]
hopec1000
trow1340
trust1523
to wait after ——1534
lot1633
to look for ——1828
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 250 We beoð hæbbende ðæs ðe we ær hopedon.
a1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 183 Þu al þet ic hopie.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxvi. 6 And hope þe victory thoro his help.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. pr. iv. 10 By whiche lettres I am accused to han hooped the fredom of Roome.
1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S. T. S.) 124 I grant, I haif done wrang, Nocht hopeand help of the.
1603 B. Jonson Sejanus v. x, in Wks. (Rtldg.) 172/2 Dost thou hope fortune to redeeme thy crimes?
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe iv. 49 Strange couzenage! none would live past years again, Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. i. 350 With looks that asked yet dared not hope relief.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 21 The conviction, that he had nothing to hope from his friend's fears.
1872 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera II. xxii. 28 I have not time to ask Mr. Sillar's permission, but hope his pardon for assuming it.
b. With object clause. (In modern colloquial use often in weakened sense, expressing little more than a desire that the event may happen, or (with clause in present or past) that the fact may turn out to be as stated.) Also used sarcastically in implied protest against an imputation (colloquial).
ΚΠ
c1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) 8 325 Ic hopige þæt cherubin se mæra æt wesan wylle.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 316 Ich hopie þet hit schalbeon..swiðe biheue.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1097 I hope to heuene king mi help schal nouȝt fayle.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 223 It is to hope that..thei schulen no longer so erre.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. i. 55 You'll let vs in I hope ? View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall Pref. 4 I have in another treatise..given a particular, and, I hope, a satisfactory account.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 123 Thirty bad Bits, and Two good ones..but I hope, you have got one of the two good ones.
1800 W. Gilpin Serm. Country Congregation II. 50 He hoped you would consider the debt of little consequence.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xi. 70 We hoped that no repetition of the process would occur.
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through Arabia I. 114 He enters with a ‘hope I don't intrude’ air.
1933 O.E.D. Suppl. at Hope Mod. I hope I know how to keep a secret and to tell the truth.
c. With infinitive.
ΚΠ
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 220 He..hopede to wynne Rome, wanne he come eft aȝe.
c1305 Judas Iscar. 34 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 108 Glad heo was and hopede of him to habbe an heire.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 8006 Þai..hopit in haste..the mater to here.
1587 T. Churchyard in J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) f. 270 I hoapt, to come before the King.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. i. xv. 28 Cardinal Wolsey..hoped to come to be Pope by the recommendation of the Emperour.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 178 When may we hope to see you again in London?
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. vii. 423 Violent measures, by which the King hoped to curb the colonies.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (transitive)]
weenOE
weenc1000
thinklOE
lookc1225
hopec1330
trusta1387
wait onc1390
supposea1393
to wait after ——1393
to look after ——c1400
thinkc1480
attend1483
suppone1490
expect1535
to expect for1538
aspect1548
respect1549
look1560
ween1589
attend1591
propose1594
await1608
to presume on, upon, or of1608
to look forwards1637
prospect1652
to look for ——a1677
augur1678
anticipate1749
to look to ——1782
spect1839
contemplate1841–8
to look forward1848
eye1979
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4429 I hope Iulyus had drawen hit out.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15842 Non hoped til hym no gyle.
a1340 R. Rolle Comm. on Canticles in Psalter ix. 1 I hope had he beyne a rightwisman he had noght sayd swa.
a1400–50 Alexander 3548 I hope þou wenes at we be like to þire lethire Persyns.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 109 Our maunciple I hope he wol be deed.
1571 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxvi. 113 Quhat man did hoip of Grange now dois appeir..He dois Rebell and will not serue the King.
1589 in Arte Eng. Poesie (Arb.) iii. xxii. 214 I hope I shall be hanged to morrow.
a1626 W. Rowley New Wonder (1632) ii. 26 I hope thou'lt vex me..I shall rayle, and curse thee I hope.
5. transitive. To bring by hoping.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1721 Coll. Polit. Lett. London Jrnl. 1720 60 Some hope themselves..into a Halter, but few into their Wishes.
Phrases
to hope against hope [after Romans 4:18] : to hope where there are no reasonable grounds for doing so; to hope very much. Hence hope-against-hope.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [verb (intransitive)] > without grounds
to hope against hope1813
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [noun] > unfounded hope
forlorn hopea1643
wish-thinking1930
wishful thinking1932
a wing and a prayer1943
straw-clutching1962
hope-against-hope1968
1813 J. Montgomery World before Flood 90 Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxxviii. 403 He mentioned the place and time at which they were to meet, and hoping against hope kept the appointment.
1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. ii. i. 93 I had hoped against hope that he would have gone before she returned.
1963 V. Nabokov Gift i. 69 Fyodor still hoped against hope that this was a metaphysical paradox and not a traitorous lapsus.
1968 W. Sansom Grand Tour Today ix. 181 Matisse's wonderful chapel of stained light..has nothing to do with the usual hope-against-hope that modern concrete building will ‘harmonise’ with older surroundings.
Draft additions December 2014
to hope for the best and variants: to hope for a favourable outcome or result, esp. in situations where it seems unlikely that one will occur. Also in to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and variants. [Compare classical Latin debēbis optāre optima, cōgitāre difficillima ( Cicero ad Familiares 9.17).]
ΚΠ
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 3865 Þe kyng, hopynge for þe beste, With-oute abood graunted hir requeste.
1565 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc i. ii. sig. B.iv Good is I graunte of all to hope the best, But not to liue still dreadles of the worst.
1635 R. Sibbes Soules Conflict 153 We may hope for the best, but feare the worst, and prepare to beare whatsoever.
1668 D. Lloyd Memoires 335 Cheerful and unconcerned in expectation, he provided for the worst, and hoped for the best.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 16 Come, hope for the best, said I.
1789 Oracle 20 Nov. 2/3 The people, hoping for the best, but full of suspicion..impatiently wait the event of the new Regulations.
1836 E. Howard Rattlin, the Reefer III. xxi. 269 Hoping, trusting, relying on the best, we should be prepared for the worst.
1865 Union & Dakotaian (Yankton, Dakota Territory) 25 Nov. 2/1 This looks little like permanent peace, however let us hope for the best.
1928 F. L. Nebel in Black Mask Nov. 11/1 Policemen were on the walkout, idly swinging nightsticks, watching, waiting, prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.
1955 N. Coward Diary 15 Apr. (2000) 263 If a great big hydrogen bomb war starts I shall retire here with as many loved ones as I can persuade to join me and hope for the best.
2013 Guardian (Nexis) 21 Jan. 2 The theme of this year's [Davos] meeting is Dynamic Resilience, which..suggests companies should hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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