1 to think or believe that sb/sth will come or that sth will happen 预料；预计: She was expecting a letter from the bank this morning but it didn't come. 她预计今天早上银行会有一封信来，但是没有。I expect that it will rain this afternoon. 我看下午要下雨。I know the food's not so good, but what did you expect from such a cheap restaurant? (= it's not surprising) 我知道菜不大好，但对于这么便宜的餐馆，你还抱什么希望呢？She's expecting a baby in the spring (= she's pregnant). 她春天要生孩子了。 ☞ Look at the note at wait ¹. 参看 wait^1 的注释。

2 expect sth (from sb);expect sb to do sth to feel confident that you will get sth from sb or that he/she will do what you want 期望；指望: He expects a high standard of work from everyone. 他期望人人都有高水平的工作表现。Factory workers are often expected to work at nights. 工厂工人常常要在晚上工作。

3 (Brit 英) (not used in the continuous tenses 不用于进行时) to think that sth is true or correct; to suppose 认为；料想: ‘Whose is this suitcase?’ ‘Oh it's Maureen's, I expect.’ “这是谁的手提箱？”“哦，我想是莫林的。”‘Will you be able to help me later on?’ ‘I expect so.’ “一会儿来帮帮我的忙可以吗？”“我想可以的。”