From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishguessguess1 /ɡes/ ●●● S1 W3 verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]GUESS 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, transitive] to realize that something is true even though you do not know for certainguess (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 guessing4 → I guess5 → I guess so/not6 → guess what/you’ll never guess who/what etc → second-guess→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
guess• "Are you Dan's brother?'' "Yes, how did you guess?''• "Don't tell me - you got the job." "How'd you guess?"• You should have come to Ward or me the minute you suspected it, instead of fooling around guessing.• Are you sure Linda's pregnant, or are you just guessing?• We can only guess at the cause of the crash.• I'm only guessing, but I should think their house is worth over a million.• Perhaps you can guess exactly where I fell that night.• No prizes either for guessing his four-legged friend is named after a famous Liverpool manager.• I guess how each one I guess.• Guess how much I paid for this watch!• I guess I was doing the best I could with the knowledge I had.• Which hand have I got the chocolate in? If you guess right you can have it.• He guessed she was about 30.• I didn't know all the answers so I just had to guess some of them.• She might have guessed that as soon as she tried for a little peace and quiet the whole place would be inundated with callers.• Sally guessed that he had been drinking for most of the afternoon.• From their behaviour it was easy to guess that they were married.• Detectives guess the attacker must be aged from 25 - 30.• Already he's guessing the colour of her toothbrush.• Luckily, I guessed the right answer and won the prize!• They had already guessed the truth about their son's disappearance.• Guy looked at her face, and guessed what she was thinking.• Guess who I saw in town yesterday.• And I guess, yeah, we could stand to read more.difficult/hard/easy etc to guess• It then turns into a mystery with an outcome much too easy to guess.• Say, how did Prudence come by her fortune? Hard to guess, quite a question.• It was easy to guess that last evening's walk had not been a success.• It was not difficult to guess the direction his thoughts were taking.• It's hardly difficult to guess the sequence of events immediately after he'd quietly inserted his key in the Yale lock.• Consultants rely heavily on focus groups be-cause it is difficult to guess what audiences will like or hate.• He knew every inflection of the marquis's voice and it wasn't hard to guess what had happened.guess (that)• In her mid-twenties, I'd guess.• I guess he thought that I knew all about it, since I lived here.• Yet my guess is that after yesterday Hick will prevail for several reasons.• The habitat I refer to, as you may have guessed, is the garden.• Then she heard an outer door close, and guessed that refreshment had been delivered.• It had been a lucky guess, that was all.• Have them notice the position of the eyes on various animals and ask them to guess the reasons for the differences.• I would never have guessed they were a couple.• I bet you've got a shrewd guess what's in it.guessguess2 ●●● S3 noun [countable] 1 GUESSan attempt to answer a question or make a judgment 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 guess3 → your guess is as good as mineCOLLOCATIONSverbsmake a guessI didn't know the answer to question 7, so I just had to make a guess.have a guess British English, take a guess American English: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.adjectivesa 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!somebody’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 guessAnalysis 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.phrasesmy 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.’Examples from the Corpus
guess• I'm not sure why she left him, but I think I can make a guess.• This is only a guess, but I think Barbara might have gone to Jan's house.• "Did Cindy tell you that she's sold the business?" "No, it was just an educated guess."• "When was the house built - about 1600?" "That's a good guess - it was 1624."• I didn't really know the answer. It was just a lucky guess.• The reporters could not tell whether this was because Kalmbach was a lucky guess or a ridiculous one.• It is anybody's guess as to how the sale will fare.• What happens to Mr Mandelson next is anyone's guess.• And those guesses will come more from our own sense of meaning and beauty than the actual beliefs of the cave artists.• "Who's her new boyfriend then?" "I'll give you three guesses!''• I'll give you three guesses.• Your guess is as good as mine.Origin guess1 (1200-1300) Probably from a Scandinavian language 