HOPE, noun [Latin cupio.]

1. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.

The hypocrite's hope shall perish. Job 8:13.

He wish'ed, but not with hope--

Sweet hope! kind cheat!

He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

2. Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

A well founded scriptural hope is, in our religion, the source of ineffable happiness.

3. That which gives hope; he or that which furnishes ground of expectation, or promises desired good. The hope of Israel is the Messiah.

The Lord will be the hope of his people. Joel 3:16.

4. An opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence. The christian indulges a hope that his sins are pardoned.

HOPE, verb intransitive

1. To cherish a desire of food, with some expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable.

HOPE for good success.

Be sober and hope to the end. 1 Peter 1:3.

HOPE humbly then, with trembling pinions soar.

2. To place confidence in; to trust in with confident expectation of good.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God. Psalms 43:5.

HOPE, verb transitive To desire with expectation of good, or a belief that it may be obtained. But as a transitive verb, it is seldom used, and the phrases in which it is so used are elliptical, for being understood.

So stands the Thracian herdsman with his spear,

Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear.

HOPE, noun A sloping plain between ridges of mountains. [Not in use.]