as in title
either one of the words that are at the top of a page in a dictionary or similar book and that show the first and last words on the page
It is easiest to use the guide words to find the page for the word you are looking up.
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Recent Examples of guide word
The Standing Rock movement’s guiding words, Mni Wiconi (water is life) meant more than clean water advocacy.
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Natasha Lennard, Esquire, 19 Sep. 2017
Natasha Lennard, Esquire, 19 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guide word
Noun
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The winger has won two La Liga titles and helped Spain to European Championship glory in 2024, while lighting up last year’s Champions League with an array of impressive performances.—
Amanda Davies,
CNN Money,
1 Aug. 2025
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Last year’s the True/False fest lineup of 30 feature documentaries and 24 short docs included eight Sundance 2025 titles.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The actor will join Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe in the action fantasy, which hails from Amazon MGM’s United Artists banner and is slated to get a theatrical release.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
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Some marched with dark banners bearing the names of Nawar, Sara and others killed this year.—
Ladan Anoushfar,
CNN Money,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Guide word.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guide%20word. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
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