guy

¹

[ gahy ]

noun

1. Informal. a man or boy; fellow:

   He's a nice guy.

2. none guys, Informal. people, regardless of their gender:

   Could one of you guys help me with this?

3. Chiefly British Slang. a grotesquely dressed person.
4. Often Guy. British. a grotesque effigy of Guy Fawkes that is paraded through the streets and burned on Guy Fawkes Day.

verb (used with object)

, guyed, guy·ing.

1. to jeer at or make fun of; ridicule.

guy

²

[ gahy ]

noun

1. a rope, cable, or appliance used to guide and steady an object being hoisted or lowered, or to secure anything likely to shift its position.

verb (used with object)

, guyed, guy·ing.

1. to guide, steady, or secure with a guy or guys.

Guy

³

[ gahy; French gee ]

noun

1. a male given name: from a Germanic word meaning “woods.”

GUY

¹

abbreviation for

1. Guyana (international car registration)

guy

²

/ ɡaɪ /

noun

1. informal.
   a man or youth
2. a crude effigy of Guy Fawkes, usually made of old clothes stuffed with straw or rags, that is burnt on top of a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Day
3. a person in shabby or ludicrously odd clothes
4. informal.
   plural persons of either sex

verb

1. tr to make fun of; ridicule

guy

³

/ ɡaɪ /

noun

1. a rope, chain, wire, etc, for anchoring an object, such as a radio mast, in position or for steadying or guiding it while being hoisted or lowered

verb

1. tr to anchor, steady, or guide with a guy or guys

Guy

⁴

/ ɡaɪ /

noun

1. GuyBuddy1936MUSMUSIC: blues singerMUSIC: guitarist Buddy, real name George Guy. born 1936, US blues singer and guitarist

Word History and Origins

Origin of guy¹

First recorded in 1800–10; after Guy Fawkes

Origin of guy²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gi(e), from Old French guie “a guide,” derivative of guier to guide

Word History and Origins

Origin of guy¹

C19: short for Guy Fawkes

Origin of guy²

C14: probably from Low German; compare Dutch gei brail, geiblok pulley, Old French guie guide, from guier to guide

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. give the guy to, British Slang. to escape from (someone); give (someone) the slip.

Example Sentences

For a long time, I had Bill and Ted mixed up in my head with the guys from Dumb and Dumber, who never really appealed to me.

From Vox

I just sat there kind of in awe of this guy that I had seen on The Apprentice over and over again and in other shows.

From Ozy

In a late-night taping, the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast crew discusses his positioning as a “good guy” who can appeal to a broad cross-section of Americans.

From FiveThirtyEight

Having Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol makes things pretty fun, and then the younger guys are all different combinations of feisty, strong, rangy and other good defense-y sounding words I’m not gonna think of right now.

From FiveThirtyEight

In fact, the guy who slashed the fence was caught on camera.

From Voice of San Diego

If anything the work the two cops and the maintenance guy were doing deserves more respect and probably helped a lot more people.

From The Daily Beast

Everywhere I go, ‘Hey Cartman, you must like Family Guy, right?’

From The Daily Beast

When we had that meeting in the Caribbean, Jeffrey was holding his own and not only was he a pleasant host, he was pleasant guy.

From The Daily Beast

And we have a lot of great guests this season: Greta Gerwig, Natasha Lyonne, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi is back—I love that guy.

From The Daily Beast

Ass-kicking, bad guy-killing Carter is just a future spinster.

From The Daily Beast

Fifty per cent, and with the ten that we are supposed to pay you, that don't leave a guy much profit.

From Project Gutenberg

One of them was the late Secretary of the Treasury, Guy, who had been turned out of his place for corruption.

From Project Gutenberg

"There's a guy outside wants to see you, Chief," Charlie Ward's assistant announced through the door.

From Project Gutenberg

Lamb worked his way up into the throng and got a glimpse of the other guy getting stiff on the backroom floor.

From Project Gutenberg

For instance, the guy that was kicked by a mule, he had a hoof mark on his head and his mule had a bloody hoof.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dude
• fellow
• lad
• man