Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - expect

~ v 1 »THINK STH WILL HAPPEN« to think that something will happen because it seems likely or has been planned  (expect (that))  (The troops expect the attack will come at dawn. | expect to do sth)  (The rent was much more than we had expected to pay. | expect sb/sth to do sth)  (He'd been out celebrating and expected his girlfriend to drive him home. | fully expect (=be completely sure something will happen))  (Smedley fully expected to be paid for giving me this information. | half expect (=think it is possible that something will happen))  (I half expected to see her at the party. | as expected (=in the way that was planned))  (The ascent of the mountain is proceeding as expected. | is (only) to be expected (=used to say that you are not surprised that an unpleasant situation or remark etc has happened or been said))  (Some resentment of the new baby was only to be expected.) 2 »BE WAITING FOR« to believe that someone or something is going to arrive  (We're expecting Alison home any minute now. | Snow is expected by the weekend.) 3 »DEMAND« to demand that someone does something because it is a duty or seems reasonable  (The officer expects complete obedience from his troops. | expect sb to do sth)  (You can't expect kids to be quiet all the time. | expect a lot/too much of sb (=think someone can do more than perhaps is possible))  (The school expects a lot of its students.) 4 »WANT STH TO HAPPEN« to think it is reasonable that something should happen or exist  (A job and somewhere to live - is that too much to expect? | We had expected to be consulted at the very least.) 5 be expecting if a woman is expecting, she is going to have a baby 6 What else can/do you expect? spoken used to say that you are not surprised by something unpleasant or disappointing because it has happened before  (Tracey didn't leave a forwarding address, but then what can you expect?) 7 I expect spoken especially BrE used to introduce or agree with a statement that you think is probably true  (I expect Mum will phone tonight. | I expect so)  ("Do you think Ruth will get to art college?" "Yes, I expect so.")