Emily Dickinson Lexicon

EX-PECT', v.t. [L. expecto; ex and specto, to look, that to reach forward, or to fix the eyes.]

1. To wait for. The guards, / By me encamp'd on yonder hills, expect / their motion. Milton. [This sense, though often used by Gibbon, seems to be obsolescent.]
2. To look for; to have a previous apprehension of something future, whether good or evil; to entertain at least a slight belief that an event will happen. We expect a visit that has been promised. We expect money will be paid at the time it is due, though we are often disappointed. Expect, in its legitimate sense, always refers to a future event. The common phrase, I expect it was, is as vulgar as it is improper.