释义 |
▪ I. expect, v.|ɛkˈspɛkt| Also 7–8 exspect. [ad. L. ex(s)pect-āre to look out for, await, f. ex- (see ex- prefix1) + spect-āre to look, freq. of spec-ĕre to see. Cf. OF. especter (14th c.) to await.] I. To wait. †1. a. intr. To wait; to defer action until some contingency arises. to expect of: = sense 2. Obs.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 408 a, He desireth..that Duke Maurice woulde be content to expect so long as he may goe and come. 1600Holland Livy xxi. xlviii. 420 Scipio..thinking it good to expect of the other Consull his Colleague. 1611Bible Heb. x. 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstoole. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. xii. (1712) 82 A Dog expects till his Master has done picking of the bone. 1703Rules of Civility 15 We must not knock, but expect patiently. 1765G. Colman Terence's Comedies 388 To sit at home, expecting till a kinsman Came..to marry her. †b. quasi-trans. with out. Obs. rare.
a1664M. Frank Serm. (1672) 497 Men having..diligently made use of the opportunity, and expected it out. †2. a. trans. To wait for, await. Obs.
1585Abp. Sandys Serm. xiv. §19. 239 Note in Cornelius with what humanitie..he receiued Peter..he called to him his kinsemen and friends, and expected him. 1609Bible (Douay) Ecclus. xi. Comm., Expect the end of an other mans speach, before you beginne to answer. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts N.T. 223 Yee..eate your owne good cheere not expecting your poorer brethren. 1710Steele Tatler No. 202 ⁋5 There was a great crowd in my Antichamber, who expected Audience. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. II. 92 The..king of the Goths, instead of expecting the attack of the Legions, boldly passed the Danube. 1801Southey Thalaba ix. xviii, With..talons sheathed The ounce expects his liberty. 1822Shelley in R. Garnett Relics (1862) 189 With what anxiety I expect your news of her health! b. With indirect question as obj.: To wait to see or know. ? Obs. or arch.
1572G. Buchanan Detect. Q. Mary N j, Do you now expect quhat sentence men chosen agaynst law..haue pronounced? 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 79 All this great fight the Constantinopolitanes beheld..expecting what should bee the event thereof. 1687T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 72, I expected every minute when it would come to downright kick and cuff between 'em. 1741Middleton Cicero (ed. 3) II. vii. 191 While he [Cicero] lay encamped..expecting what way the Parthians would move. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 20 Mr. Tyrrel..expected every moment when he would withdraw to another part of the room. †c. Of a destiny, etc.: To be in reserve for, be in store for. Cf. await 8. Obs.
c1611Chapman Iliad xviii. 113 If such fate expect my life, where death strikes I will lie. 1659Hammond On Ps. lxxxii. 7 Paraphr. 409 That severe account..of their actions, which after death expects all such. 1741Middleton Cicero (ed. 3) III. x. 166 If any other fate expects me, I tast a joy beforehand, in the sure foresight of your punishment. 1781Cowper Charity 280 Prisons expect the wicked. II. To look for mentally. †3. To look forward to as one's goal or motive.
1578T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 24 Good men doe rather expect renowne, then treasure. 4. To look forward to (an event), regard (it) as about to happen; to anticipate the occurrence of (something whether good or evil). Also, to ‘look for’, anticipate the coming of (a person or thing), the receipt of (anything). Often with advbs. or phrases indicating time, which by a sort of ellipsis relate to the event ‘expected’; e.g. ‘I expect him next week’; ‘When do you expect payment’? a. with simple obj. When the obj. denotes an action, manifestation, etc., often const. of, from. In colloq. phr. expect me when you see me: implying that the speaker is uncertain as to when he will return.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 297 Cassi. Will you Dine with me to morrow? Cask. I. Cassi. Good, I will expect you. 1605Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. viii. 14, I will expect the woorst, because it may come; the best, because I know it will come. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xli. 263 They that bare rule..and they that were governed, did all expect the Messiah. 1701De Foe True-born Eng. Pref., I expect a Storm of Ill Language. 1724R. Falconer Adv. & Esc. (1769) 83 Finding we could not expect his Life, we prayed for a speedy and painless Release from it. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xiii. 104 They expected a visit in a few hours. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 24, I am afraid of ever expecting anything good again. 1876R. D. Blackmore Cripps II. xi. 179 If I do not ring then, send everybody to bed. And do not expect me until you see me. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 18 If he did similar things, he should expect similar punishment. 1891Speaker 2 May 533/1 The book is very much what might have been expected from the author. a1894Mod. I expect my mother to dinner. 1923J. Buchan Midwinter xii. 191, I..may be absent for days. Expect me back when you see me. 1963‘B. Graeme’ Almost without Murder xi. 124 Sometimes I travel at an hour's notice. My brothers expect me when they see me. 1967B. Whitaker Of Mice & Murder vi. 73, I might go off for the day somewhere. All right if you expect me when you see me? 1968‘P. Hobson’ Titty's Dead v. 54, I must be off. Expect me when you see me. b. with obj. and inf.; when the action or condition anticipated is that of the subject, with inf. alone.
1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 142 The Imperial Garrisons, who were not expected to be ever seen again in those parts. 1660Willsford Scales Comm. 182 A Captain of a Castle expecting to be beleagured, makes good his outworks. 1710Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 6, I expect to receive them this week. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 172 They expected us, and we expected to come. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India I. ii. vi. 226 He expected to perform to him one of the most agreeable of all possible services. 1876Jevons Logic Primer 9 Seeing a bright flash of lightning, I expect thunder to follow. 1891Law Times XC. 473/2 We are now daily expecting the question to come again before the Divisional Court. c. with clause as obj.; also with ellipsis of subordinate clause.
1603Sir D. Carleton in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 245 III. 82 It is expected the two courts being joyned will produce somewhat extraordinary. 1726Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 74 They did not expect she could ever recover. 1749Fielding Tom Jones ii. ix, This lady was..as well as could be expected for one in her condition. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 79 The Mur..was by no means so bad as we had expected. d. absol.
1779Johnson L.P. Wks. 1816 IX. 170 We love to expect; and when expectation is disappointed or gratified we want to be again expecting. 1847Tennyson Princ. iii. 191 Our King expects—was there no precontract? ¶e. ellipt. (a) Anglo-Irish (see quot. 1813); (b) to be pregnant; usu. in phr. to be expecting. colloq.
1813M. Edgeworth Patron. (1815) II. 22 ‘Sure I tould you he was not expicted, that is if you don't know in England, not expicted to live.’ 1817Jane Austen Let. 23 Mar. (1952) 489 She expects much about this day three weeks, & is generally very exact. 1845A. M. Hall Whiteboy v. 48 Poor Mrs. M.{ddd}isn't expected—indeed I must ride hard to overtake her. 1890Farmer Slang Dict., Expecting, with child. 1906Galsworthy Man of Property i. vi. 82 Whether young Roger's wife was really—expecting. 1939M. Spring Rice Working-class Wives iv. 71 She is 32 and has three children, very well spaced and is ‘expecting again’. 1957R. Longrigg Switchboard 208 ‘Make him do a Charleston.’ ‘Have a heart,’ said Sue. ‘I'm expecting.’ † f. intr. to expect for = to look for. Obs.
1591Harington Orl. Fur. Pref., A Sophister..made a long..Oration..expecting at the end thereof for some great thankes. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 98 Travellers..expecting in an Almanacke for a yeare of Jubile, flie over Sea by flocks towards Rome. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 277 A peace, for which so many people long, and earnestly expect. 5. In sense 4 with various additional notions. a. In combination with can, with expressed or implied negation, this vb. often = ‘to look for with reason or likelihood, or without great risk of disappointment’. Cf. count on, rely on, in similar connexion.
1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low-C. Warres Strada to Rdr., A History..which I cannot expect should be either praised or pardoned. 1759[see erroneous 3]. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 538 The despotic viceroy soon found that he could not expect entire support from Argyle. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 135 Nor can we be expected to be deeply moved by a form of art that is so unfamiliar to us. b. To look for as due from another. In stronger sense: To look for (something) with an implied injunction or requisition.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 184 These Negroes..impart freely of what they have to any civill Traveller, expecting some small retribution for their curtesie. 1650Cromwell Lett. & Sp. (1871) III. 104, I expect it be encouraged. 1690Dryden Amphitryon Pref., There is a Pride of doing more than is expected from us. 1711Addison Spect. No. 115 ⁋5 Providence furnishes Materials, but expects that we should work them up ourselves. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 72 The unhappy, from whom can be expected no returns either of present entertainment or future service. 1805Nelson in Southey Life ix, [Nelson's last signal] England expects every man to do his duty! 1818Whately Commpl. Bk. (1864) 97 Thus I may fairly expect that one who has received great kindness from me should protect me in distress. 1884Punch 6 Dec. 276/1 What do you expect me to do? 1890Besant Demoniac v. 55 The crew won't expect any drink. †c. Hence of things, conditions, etc.: To call for, need, require. Obs.
1664J. Strype in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 181, I am sensible of the charges that a College life doth expect. 1687J. Boyse in Thoresby's Corr. (ed. Hunter) I. 93 One assertion in it I could not but think expected greater evidence. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 29 To order the doing of that now, which the Practice of the Navy..would have expected their having done long since. 6. To anticipate that it will turn out to be the case that; hence, to suspect, suppose, surmise. Now rare in literary use. The misuse of the word as a synonym of suppose, without any notion of ‘anticipating’ or ‘looking for’, is often cited as an Americanism, but is very common in dialectal, vulgar or carelessly colloquial speech in England.
1592Sir H. Unton Corr. (Roxb.) 382 It is expected that the Duke of Guiese's horse was shott under him. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. v. i, The Duchesse is expected fowly bent. 1645in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 346, I..expect they [the forces] are much stronger than I am made believe. 1763T. Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 186, I say has been, because I expect there is one [an opening] no longer. 1785Ibid. I. 384. 1812 ― Writ. (1830) IV. 177. 1821 Whewell in Todhunter Acc. W.'s Wks. (1876) II. 43, I expect they are of a character which will not set you upon making comparisons. 1856Sebastopol ii. xiv. 385, I expect my friend was a paragon of sanctity. 1861G. W. Dasent Burnt Njal I. Pref. viii, It is an old saying, that a story never loses in telling, and so we may expect it must have been with this story. 1877W. H. Mallock New Republic (1878) 184 Now, I expect, Lady Ambrose, that, in its true sense, you know a good deal more history than you are aware of.
Sense 4 f in Dict. becomes 4 g. Add: [c indigo][4.] f.[/c] Of a woman: to be pregnant with (a child); to look forward to or anticipate the birth of (a baby already conceived). Also absol., loosely with a couple as subj., and transf. of animals. Usu. in the progressive.
1919G. B. Shaw Inca of Perusalem in Heartbreak House 199 Now she has married a soldier and is expecting a war baby. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude iii. 95 He even asked me if we were expecting an addition to the family. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet iv. i. 277, I mind when me and Mrs. Varner was expecting Eula. 1960H. Lee To kill Mockingbird (1963) i. i. 12 We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy—Miss Rachel's rat terrier was expecting. 1976‘J. Herriot’ Vets might Fly xiv. 129 Helen was expecting our baby this week-end. 1989S. Bellow Theft 41 Okay, I'm still living, have a husband, expect another baby. ▪ II. † exˈpect, n. Obs. rare. [f. prec. vb.] = expectation 3.
1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 4 Not for the expect of any vayne glorye. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 70 Speak Prince of Ithaca, and be 't of lesse expect, That matter needless..Divide thy lips, than, etc. |