guarantee

Pluralguarantees

Formsguarantees, guaranteeing, guaranteed

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Something that assures a particular outcome will come about.

   A high salary is no guarantee of happiness.

   Years of training gave the team some guarantee of victory.

   Similarassurance, promise, certainty

   Note

   The general sense is also the place to begin with the word's history. It comes from Old French guarantie, from the verb guarantir, "to protect, assure, vouch for," and further back from a Frankish word for a warrant. The assurance can come from a person's promise or from circumstances. It takes of before a noun (no guarantee of happiness) and that before a clause (a guarantee that he will be fit).

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To make something certain or sure to occur.

   Careful planning guarantees a smoother trip.

   I can't guarantee we'll arrive on time.

   Similarensure, assure, promise, secure

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To promise, with assurance, that something will be done properly.

   The contractor guarantees every installation against defects.

   They guarantee their repairs for a full year.

   Similarwarrant

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A written declaration that a product will be fit for its purpose and work correctly.

   The manufacturer's guarantee covers parts and labor for three years.

   She returned the faulty kettle under guarantee.

   Similarwarranty

   Note

   Here the assurance is on paper and comes with the thing you buy. A cooker arrives with a five-year guarantee, and a faulty kettle goes back under guarantee. Warranty, given as its equivalent, is the same word by another route: both descend from the Frankish term for a warrant behind the general sense. Guaranty is a third spelling of that shared root.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   An assurance with legal force, for example security given to ensure that an obligation will be carried out.

   The contract required a personal guarantee from each partner.

   Lenders often demand a guarantee before approving large loans.

   Similarsecurity, surety, collateral, pledge, bond

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To take on responsibility for another's debt or obligation.

   The parent company guaranteed the subsidiary's debts.

   Few investors are willing to guarantee such risky obligations.

   Similarunderwrite, back, secure

7. 7
   nouncountable

   The party who receives a guarantee, as distinct from the guarantor who gives it.

   Named as the guarantee, the creditor kept the right to demand performance.

   If the borrower defaulted, the guarantee could pursue the guarantor for payment.

   Note

   Here the word names the receiving party, the one who holds the promise and may demand that it be kept. It is easy to misread, because the guarantor sense uses the very same word for the party who gives the promise. Using guarantor for the giver and guarantee for the receiver keeps the two apart. When context is thin, it is safest to name the role outright.

8. 8
   nouncolloquialcountable

   Someone who gives a legal guarantee, undertaking to answer for another person's debt or obligation.

   She served as the guarantee for her son's first car loan.

   The landlord asked for a guarantee with a steady income who could cover the rent.

   Similarguarantor, surety

   Note

   Here the word names the one who stands behind a promise, not the promise itself. It sounds colloquial today, and guarantor is the safer choice in a contract or formal letter. The use is old, though: Robert South's Twelve Sermons (1692–1717) calls God "the great Guarantee for the Peace" of mankind. The same noun can also name the person who receives the pledge, so let context show which side is meant.

Showing meanings only. Show all 8