Expect Meaning
/ɪkˈspɛkt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo predict or believe that something will happen
verbTo consider obligatory or required.
Sentence Examples
One can't expect everything from schools.
You can't expect me to always think of everything!
He always turns up just when you least expect him.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We ____ our guests to arrive around noon on Saturday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We usually ____ the train to arrive on time, but today it was delayed by over an hour.
Word Origin & History
From Latin expectāre, infinitive form of exspectō (“look out for, await, expect”), from ex (“out”) + spectō (“look at”), frequentative of speciō (“see”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"And temperatures are expected to keep rising."
— 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns:
"I was born and immediately thrown into a society that makes its own rules, standards, and expectations. I am expected to behave. I am expected to deliver. I am expected to live up to the contrived standards of the society."
— 2015, Sajith Buvi, I Am 7.5 Billion Human, page 49:
"“You are pregnant?” he asked with shock in his voice. “Yes, Justin, I am expecting a child,”"
— 2011, Eva Fischer-Dixon, The Bestseller:
"Let's in, and there expect their coming."
— c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
We ____ our guests to arrive around noon on Saturday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We usually ____ the train to arrive on time, but today it was delayed by over an hour.