expect
/ɪkˈspɛkt
/ /ɛkˈspɛkt/verb [with object]
1Regard (something) as likely to happen: it’s as well to expect the worst [with object and infinitive]: the hearing is expected to last a week [with clause]: one might expect that Hollywood would adjust its approach...
- Meanwhile, the chances of a white Christmas in York looked less likely as showers were expected to stay on the west side of the country.
- His optimism is based on record profits at banks and oil firms but he also expects the recovery in the stock markets to increase receipts, despite concerns over the US economy.
- The firm expects interest rates to remain unchanged at least in the first half.
Synonyms
anticipate, await, look for, hope for, watch for, look forward to, look ahead to, have in prospect;
contemplate, bargain for/on, bank on, be prepared for, plan for;
predict, forecast, foresee, prophesy, envisage, envision
1.1Regard (someone) as likely to do or be something: [with object and infinitive]: they were not expecting him to continue...
- Everybody expects me to continue on, business as usual.
- It was pretty funny, but we didn't expect her to continue for too long, so we kept on going, walking along the road.
- Mom doesn't say anything, she just waits like she expects me to continue, so I do.
Synonyms
suppose, presume, think it likely, think, believe, imagine, assume, conjecture, surmise, calculate, judge;
trust
informal guess, reckon
North American informal figure
1.2Believe that (someone or something) will arrive soon: Celia was expecting a visitor...
- David Cuddy did announce his intention to cease inter county hurling this year but he is expected back very soon.
- That monastery he talks about shouldn't expect him any time soon.
- We expect him home soon and we feel sure he will make a good recovery.
1.3Require (something) as rightfully due or appropriate in the circumstances: we expect great things of you...
- Most of us switch the system on and off as we require; we expect lots of heat and hot water 365 days a year.
- Society requires and expects protection from drunken drivers, speeding drivers and dangerous drivers.
- When is it appropriate to begin expecting mature judgments from children?
Synonyms
require, ask for, call for, look for, wish, want, hope for;
count on, rely on;
insist on, demand
1.4Require (someone) to fulfil an obligation: [with object and infinitive]: we expect employers to pay a reasonable salary...
- Employers don't expect you to know everything, but they do assume you are willing to learn.
- The bottom line is that employers expect you to have some sense of what you want to do in terms of career goals.
- If you do not have the right to vote, why then, should you be expected to pay taxes.
1.5 (I expect) informal Used to indicate that one supposes something to be so but has no firm evidence: they’re just friends of his, I expect [with clause]: I expect you know them?...
- I am fed up with your council rubbish and propaganda and I expect a lot of other people are as well.
- Whether it is a leadership academy or whatever, is a matter for others to decide, I expect.
- There will be good and bad days, but I expect the rehab will be just as tough.
Phrases
be expecting (a baby)
(only) to be expected
what can (or do) you expect?
Derivatives
expectable
/ /ɛkˈspɛktəb(ə)l / adjective ...- That kind of explanation on the part of the companies is expectable, but it's a cop-out.
- People who know that rebuffs are expectable and that failure is remediable - that it results from lack of effort or situational factors and not personal inadequacy - are not debilitated by setbacks.
- What previously would have been dismissed as ‘wild’ analysis became acceptable and expectable, given these new models of image, text, and culture.
expectably
- The most ineffectually effete choreography comes, expectably, in the second-act numbers where men still dance with women, a veritable embarrassment of glitches.
- Science has defined life, expectably, according to the empirical data available.
- The views are expectably spectacular, including the descent to Menton.
expectedly
- She is now working for a doctorate, and expectedly, the topic relates to children and young people, their moral judgment in relation to self-concept, self-esteem, and moral values.
- Has this particular realm of journalism lived up to your youthful - and expectedly utopian - expectations?
- Wages and salaries in the organised sector have, expectedly, been fairly buoyant through the 1990s.
Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense 'defer action, wait'): from Latin exspectare 'look out for', from ex- 'out' + spectare 'to look' (frequentative of specere 'see').
First meaning ‘to wait for’, expect entered English from Latin exspectare ‘to look out for’, from spectare ‘to look’. Spectare is also the source of spectacle and many other English words (see species). ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’ was the British admiral Lord Nelson's memorable last signal to his fleet before the Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805. See blind and kiss for more about Nelson.
Rhymes
- distracted driving
- distractedly
- distractedness
- distracting
- distractingly
- distraction
- distraction burglar
- distraction burglary
- distractor
- distrain
- distrainer
- distrainment
- distraint
- distrait
- distraught
- distress
- distressed
- distressed area
- distressful
- distressing
- distressingly
- distress rocket
- distress sale
- distress signal
- distress warrant