hopes

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of hope.

   The coach hopes that the new players will adapt quickly.

   My grandmother hopes to see the garden bloom one more spring.

   Note

   The form that agrees with he, she, it or a singular noun, and it takes every construction the verb allows: she hopes that the bridge holds, he hopes to finish, the town hopes for rain, a believer hopes in something. In short replies so or not stands in for the clause: he hopes so, she hopes not. A bare transitive use meaning simply "wishes" is dialectal and nonstandard.

   Asked whether the train would be on time, he said he hopes so.

   The village hopes for a dry harvest this year.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of hope.

   The team's hopes faded after the third straight loss.

   She pinned her hopes on a scholarship to study abroad.

   Note

   Only the countable meanings of the noun pluralize: the things actually wished for, and the people or things a hope rests on. The virtuous desire for future good stays singular and uncountable, so it has no plural. In Scotland and northern England the same noun can also name a hollow or narrow upland valley nearly ringed by green slopes, so hopes there may be places on a map rather than wishes.

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