# expect

Pronunciation: say "ik-SPEKT" /ɪkˈspɛkt/

## Verb

1. To believe or predict that something is going to happen.
   - Simple: To think that something will probably happen.
   - _Analysts expect the company to report strong earnings this quarter._
   - _Nobody expected the meeting to last quite so long._
2. To think that you should receive something, or that someone should do something, because it is right, fair, or their duty.
   - Simple: To think that you should get something, or that someone should do something, because it is fair or their job.
   - _Customers expect a refund when a product fails within a week._
   - _He expected an apology after the whole misunderstanding._
3. To be waiting for a visitor, call, delivery or anything else due to arrive, often by arrangement; usually in the form 'be expecting'.
   - Simple: To be waiting for someone or something due to arrive, often because it was planned.
   - _We're expecting about forty guests for dinner on Saturday._
   - _We expect the plumber at ten, so someone has to stay home this morning._
4. To be pregnant; to be going to have a baby.
   - Simple: 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._
5. To suppose or judge it likely that something is or was the case. *(UK)*
   - Simple: To think that something is or was probably true.
   - _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._

## Verb

6. To wait for someone or something; to await an arrival. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To wait for someone or something to come.
7. To remain waiting in a place; to stay where one is. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To wait or stay in a place.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/expect (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).