guess

guess
guessable, adj.guesser, n.guessingly, adv.
/ges/, v.t.
1. to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully: to guess a person's weight.
2. to estimate or conjecture about correctly: to guess what a word means.
3. to think, believe, or suppose: I guess I can get there in time.
v.i.
4. to form an estimate or conjecture (often fol. by at or about): We guessed at the weight of the package.
5. to estimate or conjecture correctly.
n.
6. an opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.
7. the act of forming such an opinion: to take a guess at someone's weight.
8. by guess and by gosh, Northern U.S. using a combination of guesswork and reliance on luck; hit or miss.
Also, by guess and by golly.
[1300-50; (v.) ME gessen, perh. < Scand; cf. Sw, Dan, Norw gissa, MLG gissen, MD gessen, ON geta; (n.) ME gesse, deriv. of the v. See GET]
Syn. 1. hazard. 1, 2, 4. GUESS, GUESS AT, CONJECTURE, SURMISE imply attempting to form an opinion as to the probable. To GUESS is to risk an opinion regarding something one does not know about, or, wholly or partly by chance, to arrive at the correct answer to a question: to guess the outcome of a game. GUESS AT implies more haphazard or random guessing: to guess at the solution of a crime. To CONJECTURE is to make inferences in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish certainty: to conjecture the circumstances of the crime. SURMISE implies making an intuitive conjecture that may or may not be correct: to surmise the motives that led to it. 3. fancy, imagine. 6. supposition.
Ant. 3. know.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Guess — (g[e^]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Guessed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Guessing}.] [OE. gessen; akin to Dan. gisse, Sw. gissa, Icel. gizha, D. gissen: cf. Dan. giette to guess, Icel. geta to get, to guess. Probably originally, to try to get, and akin to E.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Guess? — Guess?, Inc. Tipo Pública (NYSE: GES) Fundación Los Ángeles, CA (1981) …   Wikipedia Español

  • guess — The informal use of I guess meaning ‘I think it likely, I suppose’ developed in America in the late 18c from the standard use of the phrase meaning ‘it is my opinion or hypothesis (that)’. The Americanness of the informal use has been marked… …   Modern English usage

  • guess´er — guess «gehs», verb, noun. –v.t. 1. to form an opinion of without really knowing; conjecture; estimate: »to guess the height of a tree, guess what will happen next. 2. to get right by guessing: »Can you guess the answer to that riddle? 3. to think …   Useful english dictionary

  • guess — guess·able; guess·er; guess·ing·ly; guess; guess·ti·mate; …   English syllables

  • Guess — Guess, v. i. To make a guess or random judgment; to conjecture; with at, about, etc. [1913 Webster] This is the place, as well as I may guess. Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Guess — Guess, n. An opinion as to anything, formed without sufficient or decisive evidence or grounds; an attempt to hit upon the truth by a random judgment; a conjecture; a surmise. [1913 Webster] A poet must confess His art s like physic but a happy… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • guess — [ges] vt., vi. [ME gessen, to judge, estimate, prob. < MDu, akin to Dan gisse, Swed gissa, ON geta: for IE base see GET] 1. to form a judgment or estimate of (something) without actual knowledge or enough facts for certainty; conjecture;… …   English World dictionary

  • guess — vb *conjecture, surmise Analogous words: speculate, *think, reason: imagine, fancy (see THINK): gather, *infer, deduce: estimate, reckon (see CALCULATE) guess n conjecture, surmise (see under …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • guess — [n] belief, speculation assumption, ballpark figure*, conclusion, conjecture, deduction, divination, estimate, fancy, feeling, guesstimate*, guesswork, hunch*, hypothesis, induction, inference, judgment, notion, opinion, postulate, postulation,… …   New thesaurus

  • guess — ► VERB 1) estimate or suppose (something) without sufficient information to be sure of being correct. 2) correctly estimate or conjecture. 3) (I guess) informal, chiefly N. Amer. I suppose. ► NOUN ▪ an estimate or conjecture. DERIVATIVES …   English terms dictionary

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