FluentPlex

expect

/ɪkˈspɛkt/ verb A2
  1. To predict or believe that something will happen · when you least expect it· I expect to be able to walk again after getting over my broken leg.
  2. To consider obligatory or required.
  3. To consider reasonably due. · My parents expected too much of me when I was in college.· You are expected to get the task done by the end of next week.
  4. To be pregnant, to consider a baby due. · We are expecting our third in June.

Plural expect · He/she/it expects · Past expected · Past participle expected · -ing form expecting

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
expect
He/she/it
expects
Past
expected
Past participle
expected
-ing form
expecting

From the library

“True, Dantès, I forgot that there was at the Catalans someone who expects you no less impatiently than your father—the lovely Mercédès.”
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 8 · C1
I’ve always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here, but I never really expected I would.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 19 · C1
“No, no, my dear Edmond—my boy—my son!—no; but I did not expect you; and joy, the surprise of seeing you so suddenly—Ah, I feel as if I were going to die.”
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 12 · C1
Reynolds replied, that he was; adding, “But we expect him to-morrow, with a large party of friends.” How rejoiced was Elizabeth that their own journey had not by any circumstance been delayed a day!
Pride and Prejudice, p. 275 · B2

Learn expect in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.