expect 
Being at this time in most prodigious confusion and un- 
der no government, every body expert in a what would be 
next anil what lie would do. Erelijn, Diary, Feb. 3, 166U. 
The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, 
expecting the issue of this great adventure. 
Xn-ift, Gulliver's Travels, i. 5. 
2. To look for with anticipation ; believe in the 
occurrence or the coming of ; await as likely to 
happen or to appear. 
Luc. When expect you them ? 
Cap. With the next benefit o' the wind. 
Shak., Cymbeline, iv. 2. 
Whilst evil is expected, we fear ; but when it is certain, 
we despair. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 639. 
Expect her soon with footboy at her heels. 
Cou'per, Task, iv. 550. 
To incur a risk is not to expect reverse ; and if my opin- 
ions are true, I have a right to think that they will bear 
examining. J. H. Newman, Gram, of Assent, p. 183. 
3. To reckon upon, as something to be done, 
granted, or yielded ; desire with confidence or 
assurance : as, to expect obedience or aid ; I 
shall expect to find that job finished by Satur- 
day ; you are expected to be quiet. 
There is a pride of doing more than is expected of us, 
and more than others would have done. 
Dryden, Amphitryon, Pref. 
4. To count upon in relation to something; 
trust or rely upon to do or act in some speci- 
fied way ; require or call upon expectantly : as, 
I expect you to obey, or to perform a task. 
England expects every man to do his duty. 
Lard Nelson (signal at the battle of Trafalgar). 
5. To suppose ; reckon ; conclude : applied to 
things past or present as well as to things fu- 
ture : as, I expect he went to town yesterday. 
[Prov. Eng., and local, U. 8.] [This use, though 
naturally derivable from sense 3, is probably in some in- 
stances due to confusion with suspect : as, I rather expect 
he doesn't intend to come. ]=SyH. To anticipate, look for- 
ward to, calculate upon, rely upon. ' ' Hope, Expect. Both 
express the anticipation of something future ; when the 
anticipation is welcome, we hope ; when it is less or more 
certain, we expect." (Angus, Handbook of the Eng. Tongue, 
p. 378.) Expect, Suppose. Expect properly refers to the 
future ; suppose may refer to the present, the past, or the 
future. The two words do not differ materially in the de- 
gree of certainty felt. 
It would be the wildest of human imaginations to ex- 
pect a poor, vicious, and ignorant people to maintain a 
good popular government. 
D. Webster, Speech at Pittsburg, July, 1833. 
I suppose, 
If our proposals once again were heard, 
We should compel them to a quick result. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 617. 
Il.t intraus. To wait ; stay. 
I will expect until my change in death, 
And answer at thy call. 
Sandys, Paraphrase of Job, p. 22. 
Wliere there is a Banquet presented, if there be Per- 
sons of Quality there, the People must expect and stay till 
the great ones have done. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 80. 
F'rosts that constrain the ground, and birth deny 
To flowers that in its womb expecting lie. 
Dryden, Astrsea Redux, 1. 132. 
expectt (eks-pekf), n. [< expect, v.] Expecta- 
tion. 
And be 't of less expect 
That matter needless, of importless burden, 
Divide thy lips. Shak., T. and C., i. 3. 
expectable (eks-pek'ta-bl), a. [= Sp. especta- 
ble = Pg. expectavel, < L. expectabilis, exspecta- 
bilis, to be expected, < expectare, exspectare, ex- 
pect: see expect."] To be expected; that may 
be expected. [Rare.] 
Occult and spiritual operations are not expectable. 
Sir T. BrowtK, Vulg. Err. 
expectance, expectancy (eks-pek'tans, -tan- 
si), n. [< ML. expectantia, < L. expectants, 
ppr. of expectare, look for, expect: see expec- 
tant."] 1. The act or state of expecting; an- 
ticipatory belief or desire. 
There is expectance here from both the sides, 
What further you will do. Shak., T. and C., iv. 5. 
How bright he stands in popular expectance ! 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, iv. 3. 
The returns of prayer, and the blessings of piety, are 
certain, . . . though not dispensed according to the ex- 
pectances of our narrow conceptions. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 65. 
2. Something on which expectations or hopes 
are founded ; the object of expectation or hope. 
[Rare.] 
The expectancy and rose of the fair state. 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 1. 
The Nations hailed 
Their great expectancy. 
Wordneurth, Prelude, vi. 
3. Same as expectative, 2.- Estate in expectan- 
cy, or expectant estate, a present rlitht or interest, either 
vested or contingent, the enjoyment of which in posses- 
sion is postponed to a future time. Expectant estates are 
reversions, remainders, or executory interests. Tables 
Of expectancy, tallies allowing the length of life which 
remains on the average to males or females of every given 
age. 
expectant (eks-pek'tant), a. and n. [< ME. ex- 
pectant, < OF. expectant = F. expectant = Pg. 
expec.tante, < L. expectan(t-)s, exspectan(t-)s, ppr. 
of expectare, exspectare, look for, expect : see ex- 
pt'ct.] I. . 1. Having expectation; expect- 
ing. 
Expectant ay tille I may mete 
To geten mercy of that swet. 
Jtiim. of the Rose, 1. 4571. 
Expectant of that news which never came. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
Rosy years that stood expectant by 
To buckle the winged sandals on their feet. 
Lowell, Agassiz. 
2. Looking forward with confidence ; assured 
that a certain future event will occur. 
Her majesty has offered concessions, in order to remove 
scruples raised in the mind of the expectant heir. ,s'"'//>. 
3. In mecl., relating to or employed in the ex- 
pectant method: as, an expectant medicine. 
Dunglison. Expectant estate. See estate in expec- 
tancy, under expectance. Expectant method, in med., 
the therapeutic method which recognizes the futility of at- 
tempting an immediate cure in certain diseases, as typhoid 
fever, but consists in watching for and checking any un- 
toward symptoms as they may arise. 
II. n. 1. One who expects; one who waits 
in expectation ; one held in dependence by his 
belief or hope of receiving some good. 
The boldest expectants have found unhappy frustration. 
Sir T. Browne, Urn-burial, v. 
Meantime, he is merely an expectant; but with pros- 
pects greatly improved by the death of Salisbury. 
K. A. Abbott, Bacon, p. 177. 
2f. In Scotland, a candidate for the ministry 
who has not yet received a license to preach. 
No expectant shall be permitted to preach in publike 
before a congregation till first he be tryed after the same 
manner. Act of Assembly of Glasgow, Aug. 7, 1641. 
expectantly (eks-pek'tant-li), adr. In an ex- 
pectant manner; with expectation. 
As it was, she listened expectantly. 
Qmnjf Eliot, Mill on the Floss, I. 357. 
expectation (eks-pek-ta'shon), . [= F. ex- 
pectation = Pr. espectacio, expectation = Sp. 
expectation = Pg. expcctaqao = It. cspettaeione, 
(. L. expectatio(n-), exspectatio(n-), < expecture, 
exspectare, expect: see expect."] 1. The act or 
state of waiting or awaiting with confident an- 
ticipation. 
And there have sat 
The livelong day with patient expectation, 
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome. 
Shak., 3. C., i. 1. 
2. The act or state of expecting; a looking for- 
ward to an event as about to happen ; belief in 
the occurrence of something hereafter. 
The same weakness of mind which indulges absurd ex- 
pectations produces petulance in disappointment. Irviny. 
She spoke and turn'd her sumptuous head, with eyes 
Of shining expectation fixt on mine. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
Christian nations live in a perpetual state of expecta- 
tion, always hoping for something new and good ; heathen 
nations expect little, hope for little, and therefore accom- 
plish little. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 409. 
3. That which is expected; what is anticipated 
or looked forward to. 
Now clear I understand . . . 
Why our great Expectation should be call'd 
The seed of woman. Milton, P. L., xii. 378. 
4. Prospect of future good, as of possessions, 
honors, advancement, and the like : usually in 
the plural. 
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation 
is from him. Ps. Ixii. 5. 
You must know that I have a dev'lish rich uncle in the 
East Indies, Sir Oliver Surface, from whom I have the 
greatest expectations. Sheridan, School for Scandal, iii. 3. 
His magnificent expectations made him . . . the best 
match in Europe. Prescott. 
5t. A state or qualities in a person which ex- 
cite anticipation in others of some future ex- 
cellence; promise. 
Sum not your travels up with vanities ; 
It ill becomes your expectation. 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, ii. 1. 
l;y all men's eyes, a youth of exf 'fetation ; 
Pleas'd with your growing virtue I receiv'd you. 
Oticenj. 
6. In med., same as expectant method (which 
see, under expectant). 7. In the theory of 
probabilities, the present value of contingent 
future gain. It is equal to the value to be gained mul- 
tiplied by the probability of gaining it. No account is 
taken of interest, as not IK-HILT ^cniiane to the problems 
usually treated.- Expectation Of life, the average dura- 
tion of life bey. in. 1 any auc of person* wli,, have altaine.l 
that age. Expectation week, tile interval between As 
expectorate 
censiondayaud \\ hit -Sum lay : so called because it was the 
sea-mi nt the ai'nstle.s' earnest prayer for and expectation 
of the Comforter. =Syn. 2. Anticipation, expectance, ex- 
pectancy, confidence, trust, reliance, presumption. 
expectative (eks-pek'ta-tiv), a. and n. [= F. 
expeetatire = Sp. Pg. expcctatira = It. espttta- 
lirtt, n., < ML. "cxpectatiriift (fern, cxpectaliva, 
n.), < L. expectare, exspectare, pp. expectatux, 
exspectatus, expect: see expect."] I. n. 1. Con- 
stituting an object of expectation ; giving rise 
to expectation; anticipatory. [Rare.] 
Expcctative graces or mandates nominating a person to 
succeed to a benefice. Robertson. 
2. Eccles., pertaining to an expectative. See 
II. n. 1. That which is expected ; something 
in expectation. 
Though blessedness seem to be but an expectatioe, a re- 
version reserved to the next life, yet so blessed are they 
in this testimony of a rectified conscience, which is this 
purity of heart, as that they have this blessedness in a 
present possession. li<>u,t>', Sermons, x. 
Specifically 2. In the Bom. Cutli. Cli., the 
right to be collated in the future to a benefice 
not vacant when the right is granted. Expecta- 
tives were either papal, granted by a mandate of the 
pope, or royal, granted by a mandate of the temporal 
sovereign. Hence, the mandate so given is sometimes in- 
correctly called an cxperlalire. The right was abolished 
by the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, except 
in a few specified cases. Also called expectance, expectan- 
cy, and, when the benefice was specified, a survivorship. 
The king conferred upon him as many ecclesiastical pre- 
ferments ... as he could be legally possessed of, as sup- 
ports of his state and dignity, while this great expectative 
was depending. Bp. Loicth, Wykeham, p. 34. 
Before his return, Ximenes obtained a papal bull, or 
expectative, preferring him to the first benefice of a speci- 
fied value which should become vacant in the see of To- 
ledo. I'rescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 5. 
Expectatores(eks-pek-ta-to'rez), n.pl. [NL., 
pi. of LL. expcctator, exspectator, one who 
watches, a spectator, < expectare, exspectare, 
lookout, expect: see expect.] In Macgillivray's 
system of classification, an order of birds, the 
watchers, as the herons and their allies : nearly 
equivalent to the modern Herodiones. [Not in 
use.] 
expectatorium (eks-pek-ta-to'ri-um), n.; pi. ex- 
pectatoria (-ii). [ML., < L. expectare, exspecta- 
re, wait for, expect: see expect."] In the mid- 
dle ages, a disputation by cursory bachelors in 
theology, in the University of Paris and else- 
where. 
expectedly (eks-pek'ted-li), adv. In an expect- 
ed manner ; at a time or in a manner expected 
or looked for. 
Lord Mansfield . . . unexpectedly is supported by the 
late Chancellor, the Duke of Newcastle, and that part of 
the Ministry, and very expectedli/ bv Mr. Fox. 
Walpole, Letters (1758), III. 277. 
expecter (eks-pek'ter), n. One who expects ; 
one who waits for something or for another 
person. Also expcctor. 
^neas, call my brother Troilus to me ; 
And signify this loving interview 
To the expecters of our Trojan part. 
Slink., T. and C., iv. 5. 
expectingly (eks-pek'ting-li), adr. With expec- 
tation. 
Prepar'd for fight, expectingly he lies. 
Dryden, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, vi. 
expectlesst (eks-pekt'les), a. [< expect + -less.] 
1. Unsuspicious. 
But when he saw me enter so expectlt**. 
To hear his base exclaims of murtber, murther. 
Chapman, Revenge of Bussy d'Ambois, ii. 1. 
2. Unexpected ; not looked for ; unforeseen. 
expector (eks-pek'tor), n. Same as expecter. 
Dam. Who's that, boy ? 
Itnii. Another juggler, with a long name. O that your 
expectorx would be gone hence, now, at the first act ; or 
expect no more hereafter than they understand. 
B. Jonson, Magnetick Lady, i. 
expectorant (eks-pek'to-rant), a. and w. [= F. 
expectorant = Sp. Pg. expectorants = It. espetto- 
rante, < L. expevtoran(t-)s, ppr. of expectorare: 
see expectorate.] I. a. Pertaining to or promot- 
ing expectoration. 
II. n. Something, as a drug, which promotes 
or facilitates expectoration. 
expectorate (eks-pek'to-rat), 'F. ; pret. and pp. 
expectorated, ppr. enpectordting, [< L. expecto- 
ratus, pp. of expectorare C> It. espettorare = Sp. 
Pg. cxpci'tnriir = F. expectorer), only fig. banish 
from the mind, but lit. (as in mod. use) expel 
from the breast, < tjc, out of, + pectus (peetor-), 
the breast: see pectoral."] I. trans. 1. To eject 
from the trachea or lungs; discharge, as phlegm 
or other matter, by coughing or hawking and 
.spitting; s]iit out. 
