verb
bargain
To expect or be prepared for something.
We bargain for delays whenever we travel during a holiday.
Etymology
Old French bargaignier meant to negotiate. Bargaining involves reckoning with possible terms or outcomes; to bargain for something extends that reckoning into expecting or preparing for it.
More examples
- She got more responsibility than she had bargained for.
- They had not bargained on such heavy traffic.
- He was bargaining on help from his neighbors.
Forms
bargain · bargains · bargained · bargaining
Similar words
- expect
- Does not necessarily suggest allowing for something in a plan.
- anticipate
- Often emphasizes considering something before it happens.