guess

I UK [ɡes] / US verb [intransitive/transitive]
Word forms "guess":
present tense I/you/we/they guess he/she/it guesses present participle guessing past tense guessed past participle guessed
***

a) to say or decide what you think is true, without being certain about it

a competition to guess the weight of the pig

guess at:

It's difficult even to guess at the figures.

guess something as something:

He guessed her age as 14 or 15.

guess what/who/how etc:

Would anyone like to guess what this object is?

guess (that):

She guessed that it was about midday from the position of the sun.

guess as to something:

Scientists are really still guessing as to the true cause of ice ages.

guess correctly/right:

Whoever guesses correctly will win two tickets to the show.

b) to be correct about something that you guess

He had already guessed the answer.

Surely she would guess the truth.

guess about:

He wondered whether she knew or guessed about Amy.

guess (that):

Tim guessed she was awake.

I expect you've guessed by now that I lost the fight.

guess something from something:

She guessed from the noise that her brothers were home.

not be hard to guess something:

From his expression, it wasn't hard to guess what had happened.

•

I/you/he etc can only guess — used for emphasizing that something is not known, especially someone's feelings or the degree to which something is happening

Why this approach failed, we can only guess.

I/you/he etc can only guess at:

Melissa could only guess at what the child must be feeling.

I/you/she etc would never guess — spoken used for showing that you think something is not at all obvious

Looking at her now you'd never guess she'd been so upset.

I'd never have guessed that they were married.

- guess what

- I guess

- keep someone guessing

- let me guess

- you can guess

- you'll never guess

- you've guessed it

See:

might I

II UK [ɡes] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "guess":
singular guess plural guesses
**

the action of saying what you think is true or will happen, without being certain

have/make/take a guess:

Have a guess and then check it on your calculator.

guess at:

Take a guess at what's behind this screen.

guess as to:

a guess as to the number of people who might come

rough guess (= one that is not expected to be accurate):

At a rough guess, I'd say there were twenty people in the room.

wild guess (= one that is very unlikely to be accurate):

OK, I'll make a wild guess, but I really don't know.

good/lucky/inspired guess:

The researchers made several inspired guesses about how the brain works.

educated/informed guess (= one that is based on some knowledge):

I could probably make an educated guess.

hazard a guess (= make a guess that will probably not be accurate):

We can only hazard a guess at what happened.

•

Collocations:
Adjectives frequently used with guess
▪  educated, good, informed, inspired, lucky, rough, wild

my guess is (that) — spoken used when you are saying what you think will happen, or what you think has happened

- at a guess

- best guess

- I'll give you three guesses

- something is anyone's guess

- your guess is as good as mine