DictionaryAI

expect

verb
ik-SPEKT/ɪkˈspɛkt/

Formsexpects, expecting, expected

7 meanings of expect

Practice

  1. 1
    predictverbtransitive or intransitive
    To believe or predict that something is going to happen.

    Analysts expect the company to report strong earnings this quarter.

    Nobody expected the meeting to last quite so long.

    UsageOften expect someone or something to do something: expect prices to rise. Unlike hope, it is about what is likely, not what you want.

    Similaranticipate

  2. 2
    feel owedverbtransitive
    To think that you should receive something, or that someone should do something, because it is right, fair, or their duty.

    Customers expect a refund when a product fails within a week.

    He expected an apology after the whole misunderstanding.

    UsageWhen the thing owed is a noun, the person who owes it comes after of or from: they expect too much of me, an apology from him.

    Note

    The claim here rests on what is fair or owed rather than on a forecast. It can also lay a plain duty on someone, as in Nelson's signal at Trafalgar: England expects that every man will do his duty.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To be waiting for a visitor, call, delivery or anything else due to arrive, often by arrangement; usually in the form 'be expecting'.

    We're expecting about forty guests for dinner on Saturday.

    We expect the plumber at ten, so someone has to stay home this morning.

    UsageName what is due when it could be unclear: she's expecting a call. On its own, she's expecting usually means she is having a baby.

    Similarawait

    Note

    The waiting sense keeps something of the Latin, which meant "look out for": we're expecting guests, I'm expecting a call.

  4. 4
    pregnantverbtransitive or intransitive
    To be pregnant; to be going to have a baby.

    My sister is expecting again, with the baby due in November.

    The couple are expecting their third child this year.

    UsageMostly be expecting: she is expecting, they are expecting their third, often with the due date: expecting in June.

  5. 5
    verbUKtransitivebritish
    To suppose or judge it likely that something is or was the case.

    I expect the shops are shut by now; it's gone six.

    You've been on your feet all day, so I expect you'd like a sit-down and a cup of tea.

    UsageMostly I expect + a guess about now: I expect you're tired, I expect they've left by now.

    Similarsuppose, imagine, assume, guess, think

    Note

    Here the verb makes a guess about how things stand rather than a forecast: I expect you're tired is close to "I suppose you're tired". The speaker is only judging what is probably so, with no hope or demand in it, and unlike the forecasting meaning it points at the present or the past, often with by now.

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To wait for someone or something; to await an arrival.
    Let's in, and there expect their coming.
    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”
    The knight fixed his eyes on the opening with breathless anxiety, and continuing to kneel in the attitude of devotion which the place and scene required, expected the consequence of these preparations.
    1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman

    Similarwait, await

    Note

    The Latin meaning survives most directly here. Exspectō meant "look out for, await," from ex "out" and spectō "look at." Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice has let's in, and there expect their coming, and Walter Scott's The Talisman (1825) still has a kneeling knight who expected the consequence. Today await or wait for does this work, so expect used this way sounds deliberately old.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

    • English expect derives from Latin exspectō, whose meaning includes awaiting. en.wiktionary.org
    • Latin exspectō meant 'look out for, await' and derives from ex 'out' and spectō 'look at'. en.wiktionary.org
    • William Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Merchant of Venice contains the quoted words, spoken by Lorenzo to Jessica. folger.edu
    • Walter Scott wrote The Talisman. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Talisman was first published in 1825. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Talisman's narrator describes a kneeling knight who 'expected the consequence'. gutenberg.org
  2. 7
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To remain waiting in a place; to stay where one is.
    I will 'expect until my change in death, / And answer at Thy call
    1636, G[eorge] S[andys], A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David

    Similarwait, stay, remain, abide

    Note

    The intransitive twin of the obsolete "await" sense: no object follows the verb, and expect simply means to stay and wait. George Sandys's verse paraphrase of the Book of Job reads I will expect until my change in death, where a modern writer would put wait. English now gives this job entirely to wait and stay.

Practice

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Origin

Goes back to Latin speciō ("see"), whose frequentative spectō ("look at") joined ex ("out") to make exspectō ("look out for, await, expect"); English took the word from its infinitive, expectāre.