Definitions for: Guess


[n] an estimate based on little or no information
[n] a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
[v] expect, believe, or suppose; "I imagine she earned a lot of money with her new novel"; "I thought to find her in a bad state"; "he didn't think to find her in the kitchen"; "I guess she is angry at me for standing her up"
[v] guess correctly; solve by guessing; "He guessed the right number of beans in the jar and won the prize"
[v] form an opinion about; judge tentatively; form an estimate of, as of quantities or time; "I estimate this chicken to weigh at three pounds"
[v] put forward, of a guess; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"



Webster (1913) Definition: Guess, 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. get. See Get.]
1. To form an opinion concerning, without knowledge or means
of knowledge; to judge of at random; to conjecture.

First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess.
--Pope.

2. To judge or form an opinion of, from reasons that seem
preponderating, but are not decisive.

We may then guess how far it was from his design.
--Milton.

Of ambushed men, whom, by their arms and dress, To
be Taxallan enemies I guess. --Dryden.

3. To solve by a correct conjecture; to conjecture rightly;
as, he who guesses the riddle shall have the ring; he has
guessed my designs.

4. To hit upon or reproduce by memory. [Obs.]

Tell me their words, as near as thou canst guess
them. --Shak.

5. To think; to suppose; to believe; to imagine; -- followed
by an objective clause.

Not all together; better far, I guess, That we do
make our entrance several ways. --Shak.

But in known images of life I guess The labor
greater. --Pope.

Syn: To conjecture; suppose; surmise; suspect; divine; think;
imagine; fancy.

Usage: To Guess, Think, Reckon. Guess denotes, to
attempt to hit upon at random; as, to guess at a thing
when blindfolded; to conjecture or form an opinion on
hidden or very slight grounds: as, to guess a riddle;
to guess out the meaning of an obscure passage. The
use of the word guess for think or believe, although
abundantly sanctioned by good English authors, is now
regarded as antiquated and objectionable by
discriminating writers. It may properly be branded as
a colloguialism and vulgarism when used respecting a
purpose or a thing about which there is no
uncertainty; as, I guess I 'll go to bed.


Guess, v. i.
To make a guess or random judgment; to conjecture; -- with
at, about, etc.

This is the place, as well as I may guess. --Milton.


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.

A poet must confess His art 's like physic -- but a
happy guess. --Dryden.

Synonyms: approximate, conjecture, dead reckoning, estimate, gauge, guessing, guesswork, hazard, hypothesis, imagine, infer, judge, opine, reckon, shot, speculation, suppose, supposition, surmisal, surmise, think, venture

See Also: anticipate, anticipate, approximation, assess, calculate, call, cipher, compute, count, cypher, divine, estimate, estimation, expect, figure, figure out, forebode, foretell, give, guesstimate, idea, lick, lowball, make, misgauge, opinion, overestimate, overrate, place, predict, prognosticate, promise, put, puzzle out, quantise, quantize, set, solve, speculate, surmise, suspect, suspect, tell, truncate, underestimate, view, work, work out

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