INDEX:
1. to guess something
2. what you say when you guess something
3. to guess correctly
4. to guess incorrectly
5. an attempt to guess something
6. a guess that is based on very little information
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ ANSWER
↑ THINK
↑ KNOW/NOT KNOW
↑ SURE/NOT SURE
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1. to guess something
▷ guess /ges/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to give an answer or decide that something is probably true, when you do not know enough to be definitely sure :
▪ Are you sure Linda’s pregnant, or are you just guessing?
▪ I’m only guessing, but I should think their house is worth over a million.
▪ I didn’t know all the answers so I just had to guess some of them.
guess who/what/how etc
▪ Guess who I saw in town yesterday.
▪ Guess how much I paid for this watch!
guess at
▪ We can only guess at the cause of the crash.
guess (that)
▪ Sally guessed that he had been drinking for most of the afternoon.
▪ Detectives guess the attacker must be aged from 25 - 30.
▷ make a guess /ˌmeɪk ə ˈges/ [verb phrase]
to guess something, especially when you are trying to answer a question or explain how something might have happened :
▪ I’ve no idea where I lost the keys. I couldn’t even make a guess.
make a guess at/about/as to
▪ It’s possible to make a guess at who the woman in the story might be.
▷ have a guess British /take a guess especially American /ˌhæv ə ˈges, ˌteɪk ə ˈges/ [verb phrase]
to guess an answer, amount, or number - use this especially when you are telling someone to do this :
▪ ‘How much rent do you pay for your apartment?’ ‘Take a guess.’
have a guess at
▪ Have a guess at the answer, then check it with your calculator.
▷ estimate /ˈestɪmeɪt, ˈestəmeɪt/ [transitive verb]
to say how much something will cost, how many of something there are etc, partly by calculating and partly by guessing :
estimate (that)
▪ Police estimate that over 10,000 people took part in the demonstration.
estimate something at $350/£400 etc
▪ His personal fortune is estimated at £150 million.
▪ The mechanic estimated the cost of repairs at $350.
estimate how much/how many etc
▪ Can you estimate how much fabric you will need for the curtains?
estimated [adjective]
▪ More classrooms are urgently needed, at an estimated cost of $300,000.
▷ put something at /ˈpʊt something æt/ [transitive phrasal verb]
put the cost/the value/somebody’s age etc at something
to guess that the cost, value etc is a particular amount without trying to be very exact :
▪ I’d put her age at around 35.
▪ The cost of the war was put at more than $10 billion.
▷ speculate /ˈspekjɑleɪt/ [intransitive verb]
to think about or discuss something in order to guess what its causes or results might be :
▪ We don’t know why the prehistoric stone circles were built. We can only speculate.
speculate about/on/as to
▪ Edward began to speculate on what life would be like if he were single again.
▪ People have been speculating about interstellar flight for years.
2. what you say when you guess something
▷ my guess is /maɪ ˈges ɪz/ spoken
say this when you are telling someone what you think has probably happened or will probably happen :
my guess is (that)
▪ My guess is that they’ve been delayed in a traffic jam.
▪ My guess is she’ll move back to the States after the divorce.
▷ I bet /aɪ ˈbet/ spoken
say this when you are fairly sure that something is true or something is happening, although you cannot prove this :
▪ He’ll be really pleased to see you, I bet!
I bet (that)
▪ Come and sit down, I bet you’re exhausted.
▪ I bet that the meeting will be cancelled again.
▷ off the top of my head /ɒf ðə ˌtɒp əv maɪ ˈhedǁ-ˌtɑːp-/ spoken
say this when you are guessing a number or amount and you have not checked it exactly :
▪ Off the top of my head, I think that the figure is about 25%.
▪ ‘What’s the painting worth?’ ‘Three million or so,’ he said, off the top of his head.
3. to guess correctly
▷ guess /ges/ [intransitive/transitive verb not in progressive]
to guess correctly that something is true, or guess the right answer to something :
▪ ‘Are you Dan’s brother?’ ‘Yes, how did you guess?’
▪ Luckily, I guessed the right answer and won the prize!
guess what/who/where etc
▪ Guy looked at her face, and guessed what she was thinking.
guess (that)
▪ From their behaviour it was easy to guess that they were married.
guess the truth
▪ They had already guessed the truth about their son’s disappearance.
guess right
▪ Which hand have I got the chocolate in? If you guess right you can have it.
▷ you’re getting warm /jɔːʳ ˌgetɪŋ ˈwɔːʳm/ spoken
say this when someone’s guess about something is nearly correct :
▪ ‘Where are you going? Egypt, Morocco?’ ‘You’re getting warm!’
4. to guess incorrectly
▷ guess wrong /ˌges ˈrɒŋǁ-ˈrɔːŋ/ [verb phrase]
to guess incorrectly :
▪ I guessed she was over sixteen, but I guessed wrong.
▷ overestimate /ˌəʊvərˈestɪmeɪt, ˌəʊvərˈestəmeɪt/ [transitive verb]
to guess wrongly, by thinking that the amount, level, or cost of something is bigger, more expensive etc than it really is :
▪ People overestimated the risk of catching the disease.
overestimate how much/how long etc
▪ We overestimated how long the journey would take, and arrived far too early.
overestimate /ˌəʊvərˈestɪmət, ˌəʊvərˈestəmət/ [singular noun]
▪ We thought the job would cost $5000, but this was an overestimate.
▷ underestimate /ˌʌndərˈestɪmeɪt, ˌʌndərˈestəmeɪt/ [transitive verb]
to guess wrongly, by thinking that the amount, level, or cost of something is smaller, less expensive etc than it really is :
▪ They underestimated the amount of time it would take to finish the work.
underestimate how much/ how long etc
▪ You must never underestimate how much I love you.
how difficult/ how important etc
▪ Don’t underestimate how good the other team is, or how hard they’re going to play.
badly/greatly underestimate
▪ They had badly underestimated how many lifeboats would be needed.
underestimate /ˌʌndərˈestɪmət, ˌʌndərˈestəmət/ [singular noun]
▪ There could be 50 people at the wedding, but this is probably an underestimate.
▷ be wide of the mark /biː ˌwaɪd əv ðə ˈmɑːʳk/ [verb phrase]
to guess incorrectly - use this when someone is not at all close to being correct :
▪ The movie was expected to gross millions, but that forecast was wide of the mark.
be seriously/hopelessly wide of the mark
▪ All the opinion polls turned out to be hopelessly wide of the mark.
5. an attempt to guess something
▷ guess /ges/ [countable noun]
an attempt to guess something :
▪ This is only a guess, but I think Barbara might have gone to Jan’s house.
▪ I didn’t really know the answer. It was just a lucky guess.
make a guess
▪ I’m not sure why she left him, but I think I can make a guess.
good guess
spoken say this when someone’s guess is almost correct
▪ ‘When was the house built - about 1600?’ ‘That’s a good guess - it was 1624.’
I’ll give you two/three guesses
spoken say this when you think the other person already knows the answer to the question
▪ ‘Who’s her new boyfriend then?’ ‘I’ll give you three guesses!’
an educated guess
▪ ‘Did Cindy tell you that she’s sold the business?’ ‘No, it was just an educated guess.’
▷ estimate /ˈestɪmət, ˈestəmət/ [countable noun]
an opinion about the value, size, speed etc of something that is formed partly by calculating and partly by guessing :
▪ According to some estimates, almost two thirds of the city has been destroyed by the earthquake.
rough estimate
an estimate that is not intended to be exact
▪ These are the figures, but they’re only a rough estimate.
at/as a rough estimate
making a rough estimate
▪ At a rough estimate, staff are recycling less than a quarter of the paper we buy.
a conservative estimate
an estimate that is deliberately low
▪ We’re predicting a 10% rise in oil prices -- and that’s a conservative estimate.
▷ guesswork /ˈgeswɜːʳk/ [uncountable noun]
when you try to understand something or find the answer to something by guessing, because you do not have all the information you need :
▪ It’s important to find out what consumers want to buy, rather than relying on guesswork.
▪ At the beginning, the police investigation was largely based on guesswork.
it was pure/sheer guesswork
spoken use this to say that you found out something by guessing
▪ ‘How did you know where she’d gone?’ ‘It was pure guesswork.’
▷ speculation /ˌspekjɑˈleɪʃ ə n/ [countable/uncountable noun]
when a lot of people, especially in newspapers and on television, try to guess what is happening or what will happen because they do not have much definite information :
speculation about
▪ There has been a lot of speculation about the date of the next election.
▪ The success of the book was heightened by media speculation about who the characters were in real life.
speculation that
▪ A further defeat for the government led to increasing speculation that the Prime Minister would resign.
amid speculation (that)
▪ The investigation into the crash continued amid speculation that terrorists had destroyed the plane.
wild speculation
guesses that are not sensible
▪ the wild speculation that surrounded Princess Diana’s death
pure speculation
guesses that are not sensible based only on guessing, and not on informaion
▪ Any suggestion of an imminent crash in property prices is pure speculation.
▷ speculative /ˈspekjɑlətɪvǁ-leɪtɪv/ [adjective]
an opinion, explanation etc that is speculative is based on guessing and not on facts :
▪ Theories of the origin of life are partly speculative.
highly speculative
based almost completely on guessing and probably not correct
▪ Until further research has been done, any figures that I can give you are highly speculative.
entirely/purely speculative
based completely on guessing
▪ The papers were full of talk of Lucan’s whereabouts, all of it entirely speculative.
▷ conjecture /kənˈdʒektʃəʳ/ [uncountable noun] formal
guesses that are based on information that is not complete :
a matter for/of conjecture
something that people can try to guess but cannot know
▪ It’s a matter for conjecture who wrote the original text in the fifteenth century.
pure conjecture
based only on guessing, and not on facts
▪ The judge dismissed the evidence as pure conjecture.
6. a guess that is based on very little information
▷ rough guess /ˌrʌf ˈges/ [countable noun usually singular]
the answer you give when you are trying to guess a number or amount but are not able to be exact :
▪ I’d say Mrs Roberts was about 35, but that’s only a rough guess.
make/take/have a rough guess
▪ It’s terribly difficult to calculate, but I could make a rough guess and say the cost will be about half a million.
at a rough guess
▪ ‘How long will the journey take?’ ‘At a rough guess, about six hours.’
▷ hunch /hʌntʃ/ [countable noun]
a strange feeling that you know the answer to something, even though you have very little information to help you to guess :
▪ It’s just a hunch, but it’s possible the murderer may have been a woman.
hunch that
▪ My hunch that he was lying turned out to be correct.
have a hunch
▪ I have a hunch that Jodie may be planning a surprise party.
hunch about
▪ ‘How did you know the answer?’ ‘I just had a hunch about it.’
▷ wild guess /ˌwaɪld ˈges/ [countable noun]
a guess, especially an answer, that seems stupid or is very likely to be wrong :
▪ This is a wild guess, but is the answer Michael Jackson?
▷ a shot in the dark /ə ˌʃɒt ɪn ðə ˈdɑːʳkǁˌʃɑːt-/ [noun phrase]
a guess that you make when you have no information at all, so that it is almost certainly wrong :
▪ Let’s see if she’s at Fiona’s house. It’s a shot in the dark, but we’ve got to start looking somewhere.