Dictionary entry

Hope (4)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Hope (?), v. t. 1. To desire with expectation or with belief in the possibility or prospect of obtaining; to look forward to as a thing desirable, with the expectation of obtaining it; to cherish hopes of.

We hope no other from your majesty. Shak.

hopeth all things. 1 Cor. xiii. 7.

2. To expect; to fear. “I hope he will be dead.” Chaucer.

☞ Hope is often used colloquially regarding uncertainties, with no reference to the future. “I hope she takes me to be flesh and blood.” Mrs. Centlivre.