look forward to meaning: definition, quotations

look forward to

verb

Idiomatic To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.

He was not looking forward to having to repair the downed power lines after the wind storm.
1794 November 19, George Washington, speech, George Washington's Sixth State of the Union Address, When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found capable of insurrection.

4 more examples

I love Elizabeth and look forward to our union with delight.1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter V, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 106:
Then a passionate celibacy is all that any of us can look forward to.1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act III]:
To such verification, however, we may look forward with reasonable confidence, for Einstein has deduced from the principle of relativity, together with the electromagnetic theory, a number of striking consequences which are remarkably self-consistent.1909 May 18, Gilbert Newton Lewis, Richard Chace Tolman, “The Principle of Relativity, and Non-Newtonian Mechanics”, in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 44: 709-726:
1961 January 17, Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech, Eisenhower's farewell address, Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it.