Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

hope

Pronunciation: /həʊp/
Translate hope | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of hope

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen:he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information [count noun]:I had high hopes of making the Olympic team
  • [count noun] a person or thing that may help or save someone:their only hope is surgery
  • grounds for believing that something good may happen:he does see some hope for the future
  • 2 archaic a feeling of trust: our private friendship, upon hope and affiance whereof, I presume to be your petitioner

verb

[no object]
  • want something to happen or be the case:he’s hoping for an offer of compensation [with clause]:I hope that the kids are OK
  • [with infinitive] intend if possible to do something:we’re hoping to address all these issues

Phrases

hope against hope

cling to a mere possibility:they were hoping against hope that he would find a way out

hope for the best

hope for a favourable outcome:I’ll just wait at home and hope for the best

hope springs eternal (in the human breast)

proverb it is human nature always to find fresh cause for optimism.

not a hope (in hell)

informal no chance at all:he hasn’t got a hope in hell of winning next year

some hope

British informal used to convey that there is very little chance that something will happen:he predicted a new world order in which nations would learn to live happily with their neighbours. Some hope!

Derivatives

hoper

noun

Origin:

late Old English hopa (noun), hopian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hoop (noun), hopen (verb), and German hoffen (verb)

hope in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of hope in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

epithalamium

/ ˌɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪəm /
noun
a song or poem celebrating a marriage …