From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcan only hope/wait etccan only hope/wait etcused to say that it is not possible to do more than hope etc We can only hope it won’t rain on the day. → only
Examples from the Corpus
can only hope/wait etc• We can only wait and help each other and watch this dreadful plague spread.• The scientists can only wait and hope.• Like the steeplechase where Vronsky breaks his mare's back with reckless riding, you can only wait for the pistol shot.• We can only hope Gilstrap won't push to have any of that text deleted.• Hamilton can only hope he improves as much as Benes has since the Padres traded him.• Dagenham's employees can only hope that Ford does not resurrect the phrase in the 1990s.• Users can only hope the vendors will apply the same effort to other unresolved technology issues.• You can only hope they learned from their mistakes. 