Basic+ Word of the Day: expect

expect (verb) past tense: expected

They're expecting a child.

If you expect something, it means that you have an idea about what is going to happen in the future.

• The movie wasn’t what I expected. (=I thought that it would be different.)
• I didn’t expect him to say that. (=It is surprising that he said something like that.)

If you expect something, it can also mean that you are waiting for something.

• I’m expecting a letter from my bank.

If someone is expecting, it means that they are going to have a baby.

• They’re expecting their second child in July.
• Did you hear that Caroline is expecting?

In pop culture

In the movie Goldfinger, James Bond has to stop a bad guy who loves gold. In this video from the movie, Bond wakes up on a table, and there’s a laser moving towards him. He thinks that Goldfinger probably wants some information from him, so he asks, “Do you expect me to talk?” What answer does Goldfinger give him?

There are other meanings of expect.