expect

views updated May 14 2018

ex·pect / ikˈspekt/ • v. [tr.] regard (something) as likely to happen: we expect the best. ∎  require (someone) to fulfill an obligation: [tr.] we expect employers to pay a reasonable salary. ∎  (I expect) inf. used to indicate that one supposes something to be so, but has no firm evidence or knowledge: they're just friends of his, I expect.PHRASES: be expecting (a baby) inf. be pregnant.to be expected completely normal: wild swings in the weather are to be expected.DERIVATIVES: ex·pect·a·ble adj.

expect

views updated May 29 2018

expect †wait, wait for; look for in anticipation. XVI. — L. ex(s)pectāre, f. EX-1 + spectāre look (see SPECTACLE).
So expectant XIV. — L. expectāns prp. expectancy, expectation XVI.

expect

views updated May 14 2018

expect what can you expect from a pig but a grunt? used rhetorically of coarse or boorish behaviour; saying recorded from the mid 18th century.

See also blessed is he who expects nothing, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

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