guess

guess¹ W3S1 [ges] v

[Date: 1200-1300; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language]

1.) [I and T]

to try to answer a question or form an opinion when you are not sure whether you will be correct

▪ I'd say he's around 50, but I'm only guessing.

guess right/correctly/wrong

▪ If you guess correctly, you have another turn.

guess what/who/how etc

▪ You can guess what happened next.

guess at

▪ We can only guess at the cause of the crash.

▪ What star sign are you? No, let me guess .

difficult/hard/easy etc to guess

▪ It's hard to guess his age because he dyes his hair.

2.) [I and T]

to realize that something is true even though you do not know for certain

guess (that)

▪ I guessed that you must be related because you look so similar.

guess from

▪ I guessed from his expression that he already knew about the accident.

▪ Can you guess the identity of this week's special guest?

3.) keep sb guessing

to make someone feel excited or not sure about what will happen next

▪ a thriller that keeps audiences guessing

4.) I guessspoken

a) used to say that you think something is true or likely, although you are not sure

▪ His light's on, so I guess he's still up.

b) used to say that you will do something even though you do not really want to

▪ I'm tired, so I guess I'll stay home tonight.

5.) I guess so/not

spoken used to agree or disagree with a statement or question

▪ 'You're one lucky guy.' 'I guess so.'

▪ 'I don't really have any choice, do I?' 'I guess not.'

6.) guess what/you'll never guess who/what etc

spoken used before you tell someone something that will surprise them

▪ Guess what! Bradley's resigned.

▪ You'll never guess who I saw today.

→↑second-guess

guess ²

guess² S2 n

1.) an attempt to answer a question or make a judgement when you are not sure whether you will be correct

▪ If I had to make a guess , I'd say Sam was the youngest.

▪ Does anyone want to take a guess at what all this has to do with grammar?

▪ I can only hazard a guess at what it must have been like.

▪ I'll give you three guesses who I'm going out with tonight.

▪ It had been a lucky guess , that was all.

▪ It's a good guess , but wrong nonetheless.

▪ Our best guess is that the forests will not recover for a long time.

▪ People started making educated guesses about the outcome of the election.

▪ I'd say she's about 35, but that's only a rough guess .

▪ My guess is that there won't be many people there today.

▪ At a guess , she'd had an argument with her boyfriend.

see usage note ↑suppose

2.) be anybody's guess

to be something that no one knows

▪ What she's going to do with her life now is anybody's guess.

3.) your guess is as good as mine

spoken used to tell someone that you do not know any more than they do about something

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

make a guess (at something)

have a guess (at something) British English

take a guess (at something) American English

hazard a guess (=guess something, when you feel very uncertain)

give somebody three guesses (=allow someone to guess three times)

lucky guess

good guess

best guess

educated/informed guess (=one that is likely to be correct because you have enough information)

rough guess (=one that is not exact)

wild guess (=one made without much thought)

my guess is (that)

at a guess (=used to show that what you are saying is just a guess)

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