guess

\ ˈges

How to pronounce guess (audio)

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guessed; guessing; guesses

Definition of guess

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to form an opinion of from little or no evidence She could only guess what he meant.

2 : believe, suppose I guess you're right

3 : to arrive at a correct conclusion about by conjecture, chance, or intuition guess the answer

intransitive verb

: to make a guess We can only guess at what really happened.

guess

Definition of guess (Entry 2 of 2)

: conjecture, surmise I don't know how old you are, but I'll venture a guess.

Other Words from guess Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about guess

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Examples of guess in a Sentence

Verb Can you guess how many people were there? He guessed that it would rain today. It was colder and windier than I had guessed it would be. She can only guess what he meant. I had to choose one, and I guessed right. If you can't think of an answer, guess. “I just heard why he left her.” “Let me guess—another woman.” As you might have guessed, her parents are not happy about her decision. We can only guess at what really happened. She guessed my age on her first try. Noun I'm not sure how old he is, but I'm willing to hazard a guess. My guess is that he'll change his story when he realizes how much trouble he's in.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb All this also helps me in guessing consumers’ shopping behaviour offline. — Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz India, "A 100-year-old British retail giant’s thumb rule for Indian firms: Adapt to the digital world," 12 Nov. 2019 But guess who’s planning on picking up the slack to cook Christmas dinner? — Kristin Vartan, EW.com, "The Dickinson recap binge guide: Episodes 1-10," 11 Nov. 2019 How the Nuggets plan to limit Embiid, presumably with Jokic as his primary defender, is anyone’s guess. — Mike Singer, The Denver Post, "Nuggets star Nikola Jokic unmoved by matchup vs. All-Star Joel Embiid: “I’m just playing basketball”," 7 Nov. 2019 And guess what contributes to inequality inflation? — Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, "Poverty in America is so expensive it now has its own inflation value," 6 Nov. 2019 Only three of our respondents guessed that M&Ms would be Florida’s favorite. — Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, "Central Florida kids weigh in on the best candy for Halloween," 23 Oct. 2019 Those who have resolutely ignored every hint so far may not guess where this is heading. — Margaret Gray, Los Angeles Times, "Review: At Antaeus in Glendale, ‘The Abuelas’ opens a family secret. Cue the tears," 19 Oct. 2019 In the YouTube clip, Jenny guessed Wesley Snipes who was in the superhero movie Blade. — Martha Sorren, Woman's Day, "Who Is the Fox on 'The Masked Singer'? Fans Have a Super Intriguing Guess," 9 Oct. 2019 And guess what: most Americans are way off the mark. — Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health.com, "The Longevity Diet: What to Eat So You Live Longer and Healthier," 1 Oct. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The Warriors are still reporting sellouts, but my guess is that a good number of people just aren’t using their tickets. — Connor Letourneau, SFChronicle.com, "Warriors mailbag: Why didn’t they sign Kendrick Nunn? Help coming in 2020 draft?," 4 Nov. 2019 My guess is the Broncos also will throw a few screen passes, given the Browns was fooled by 1-2 of them nearly every game. — Terry Pluto, cleveland, "Cleveland Cavaliers Pregame Scribbles: This is a must win, period!," 3 Nov. 2019 Your guess is as good as ours, but that’s the conclusion many have come to after watching a video that’s been making headlines over the past couple of weeks. — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, "Mysterious Orbs Filmed Hovering Off the Outer Banks Ignite UFO Debate," 9 Oct. 2019 My guess is that the number of knee arthroscopies will continue to fall for some time, until only the most appropriate ones are being done. — Robert H. Shmerling, sun-sentinel.com, "Surgeons are doing fewer knee surgeries," 18 Sep. 2019 The smart campaign will make its best guess as to the handful of states where the smallest growth in support will generate the largest boon in the Electoral College, spend as little time and money as possible everywhere else, and hope for the best. — Time, "The High-Risk Strategy That Could Hand Democrats the White House," 17 Sep. 2019 Why do bats hang upside down?—and talks through her best guesses before revealing the answer. — Rebecca Nelson, Marie Claire, "The Emma Chamberlain Effect," 26 Aug. 2019 During the wait, members of The Republic's sports staff made their best guesses for the outcome of Thursday night's game. — Arizona Republic, azcentral, "Arizona State vs. Kent State: Picks and predictions," 26 Aug. 2019 Her best guess is $200,000 for a by-mail special election and petition processing. — Brian Compere, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "For Carroll County, charter government is delayed — but is it gone? 6 questions answered," 27 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guess.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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More Definitions for guess

guess

verb

English Language Learners Definition of guess

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to form an opinion or give an answer about something when you do not know much or anything about it

: to guess (something) correctly : to make a correct conclusion about (someone or something) by chance

chiefly US, informal : to suppose or think (something)

guess

noun

English Language Learners Definition of guess (Entry 2 of 2)

: an attempt to give an opinion or answer about something when you do not know much about it or are not sure about it

See the full definition for guess in the English Language Learners Dictionary

guess

\ ˈges

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guessed; guessing

Kids Definition of guess

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to form an opinion or give an answer about from little or no information Guess what I got for my birthday.

2 : to solve correctly mainly by chance I guessed the riddle.

3 : think sense 1, suppose Are you ready? I guess so.

guess

Kids Definition of guess (Entry 2 of 2)

: an opinion or answer that is reached with little information or by chance

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