Search

to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of:
I expect to read it. I expect him later. She expects that they will come.
to look for with reason or justification:
We expect obedience.
Informal. to suppose or surmise; guess:
I expect that you are tired from the trip.
to anticipate the birth of (one’s child):
Paul and Sylvia expect their second very soon.
be expecting, to be pregnant:
The cat is expecting again.
Contemporary Examples

I had no idea what to expect when we walked into that living room.
When Obama Visited Billy Graham, Each Man Prayed for the Other Joshua DuBois November 6, 2013

Does Clinton expect us to separate them and send the child back across the border alone?
Hillary Clinton’s Latino Problem Ruben Navarrette Jr. June 23, 2014

Ex-Scientologists speak out on what Katie Holmes can expect from the church as she tries to divorce Tom Cruise.
Ex-Scientologists Speak Out About What Katie Holmes Is Experiencing Mark Ebner July 4, 2012

The big differences I’d expect to see are on Supreme Court justices, and to a lesser extent, on implementing ObamaCare.
Ask the Blogger: How About That Election? Megan McArdle November 4, 2012

Can we expect less violence altogether or merely less outrageous acts of violence?
Quote of the Day Justin Green January 29, 2013

Historical Examples

Somehow it does not seem that we are getting on as we have been led to expect.
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 23, 1914 Various

Now tell me just what you expect a woman in my position to do.
The Spenders Harry Leon Wilson

“They must expect a delegation of their own friends,” guessed Marjorie.
Marjorie Dean, College Sophomore Pauline Lester

Can we expect that this will be suddenly and permanently altered?
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 Various

What did you expect to be, or dream of being, when you were a boy?
American Boy’s Life of Theodore Roosevelt Edward Stratemeyer

verb (transitive; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
to regard as probable or likely; anticipate: he expects to win
to look forward to or be waiting for: we expect good news today
to decide that (something) is requisite or necessary; require: the boss expects us to work late today
v.

1550s, “wait, defer action,” from Latin expectare/exspectare “await, look out for, desire, hope,” from ex- “thoroughly” (see ex-) + spectare “to look,” frequentative of specere “to look at” (see scope (n.1)).

Figurative sense of “anticipate, look forward to” developed in Latin, attested in English from c.1600. Used since 1817 as a euphemism for “be pregnant.” Related: Expected; expecting.
language, tool
A Unix tool written in Tcl and a script language for automating the operation of interactive applications such as telnet, FTP, passwd, fsck, rlogin, tip, etc.. Expect can feed input to other programs and perform pattern matching on their output. It is also useful for testing these applications. By adding Tk, you can also wrap interactive applications in X11 GUIs.
(http://expect.nist.gov/).
[“expect: Scripts for Controlling Interactive Tasks”, Don Libes, Comp Sys 4(2), U Cal Press Journals, Nov 1991].
(1997-06-09)
see: when least expected