I. guess 1 S1 W3 /ɡes/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] 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 . [intransitive and transitive] 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 somebody guessing to make someone feel excited or not sure about what will happen next:
a thriller that keeps audiences guessing
4 . I guess spoken
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
II. guess 2 S3 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . an attempt to answer a question or make a judgement when you are not sure whether you will be correct:
I’d say she’s about 35, but that’s only a guess.
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
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ make a guess
I didn't know the answer to question 7, so I just had to make a guess.
▪ have a guess British English , take a guess AmE:
Go on, have a guess at how much it cost.
|
Take a guess. How many people do you think showed up?
▪ hazard a guess (=guess something, when you feel very uncertain)
No one at this stage is prepared to hazard a guess about the outcome of the elections.
■ adjectives
▪ a rough guess (=one that is not exact)
This is just a rough guess, but I think it would cost about $50.
▪ a wild guess (=one made without much thought or information)
I made a wild guess and I got the answer right first time.
▪ a lucky guess
‘How did you know?’ ‘It was just a lucky guess.’
▪ a good guess (=one that is likely to be right)
I'm not sure how old she is, but I can make a good guess!
▪ sb’s best guess (=one that you think is most likely to be right)
My best guess is that it will take around six months.
▪ an educated/informed guess (=a guess based on things that you know are correct)
Stockbrokers try to make educated guesses as to which stocks will do well.
▪ an intelligent guess
Analysis of the archaeological site will help us make an intelligent guess as to what it was used for.
▪ an inspired guess (=a very good guess that you make suddenly)
It’s hard to believe he got that right with just an inspired guess.
■ phrases
▪ my guess is (that)
My guess is there won’t be many people there.
▪ at a guess British English (=used when saying that you are making a guess)
I'd say it was built around the turn of the century, at a guess.
▪ I’ll give you three guesses (=used to tell someone that it should be easy for them to guess the answer to their question)
‘Where is he?’ ‘I’ll give you three guesses.’