# guide

Pronunciation: say "GYD" /ɡaɪd/

## Noun

1. A book or document that offers information or instruction; a guidebook.
   - Simple: A book or paper that gives you information or tells you how to do something.
   - _I bought a guide to the museum's collection at the front desk._
   - _Their travel guide listed the cheapest places to eat in the city._
2. A person, often hired, who shows others around a place or institution and explains things, or leads them through dangerous terrain.
   - Simple: A person, often paid, who shows people around a place or leads them safely through it.
   - _The guide explained the history behind each painting in the gallery._
   - _Their guide roped the climbers together before crossing the glacier._
7. A device that directs part of a machine as it moves, or that otherwise directs a motion or action.
   - Simple: A device that keeps a machine part, or any movement, going in the right direction.
   - _Clamp a straight board to the plywood as a guide, then run the circular saw along its edge._
   - _Worn valve guides let the valves wobble, and before long the engine starts burning oil._
11. A sign or post that shows people the way; a guidepost.
   - Simple: A sign or post that shows people which way to go.
12. A mark or object, such as a line, tab, or notch, that catches the eye and provides a quick reference point.
   - Simple: A mark or object that stands out to help you find something fast.
   - _A red dot on the dial serves as a guide for the correct setting._
   - _Reflective strips along the floor work as guides during a blackout._
13. A spirit thought to communicate by speaking through a medium.
   - Simple: A spirit that people believe speaks through a living person.
   - _During the séance, the medium's guide answered questions from the grieving family._
   - _She claimed her spirit guide had warned her of the danger ahead._
14. A key that explains the symbols, abbreviations, and terms used on a map, chart, or similar diagram.
   - Simple: A small list that explains the symbols on a map or chart.
   - _The color guide printed beside the weather chart explains that darker shading means heavier rain._
   - _The cartographer placed the guide beneath the scale bar._
8. Anything that helps someone make a judgment, estimate, or decision, or that indicates what is likely to happen.
   - Simple: Something that helps you judge or decide something, or shows you what to expect.
   - _Last year's sales figures are only a rough guide to what we can expect this year._
   - _Investors are warned that past performance is no guide to future returns._
9. A member of the Guides, a girls' organization comparable to the Girl Scouts that teaches outdoor skills and service to others. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A girl who belongs to the Guides, a group like the Girl Scouts that teaches outdoor skills and helping others.
   - _She was a Guide as a girl and can still light a campfire with two matches._
   - _Two Guides from the local group helped serve tea at the village fete._
10. Someone who counsels others and helps them choose how to conduct their lives, how to behave, or how to grow.
   - Simple: A person who gives others advice and helps them choose how to live or act.
   - _Throughout his early career, the senior partner acted as his guide and mentor._
   - _Many young athletes look to their coaches as guides in life as well as in sport._

## Verb

3. To shape the actions or direction of someone or something through control or influence.
   - Simple: To control or shape how someone or something acts.
   - _A few powerful donors quietly guide the organization's agenda._
   - _Market forces guided the company toward cheaper materials._
4. To lead or show someone the way along a route or through a place, often as one's job.
   - Simple: To lead someone or show them the way along a route or through a place, sometimes as your job.
   - _The ranger guided the group safely back to the trailhead._
   - _A local fisherman offered to guide us through the maze of channels to the sea._
5. To steer or navigate something, especially a ship or aircraft, along its course.
   - Simple: To steer a ship, plane, or other vehicle along its course.
   - _She guided the tanker past the shoals at low tide._
   - _Harbor pilots guide arriving ships to their berths._
6. To supervise and direct the education or training of someone.
   - Simple: To watch over and direct someone's learning or training.
   - _Senior researchers guide junior colleagues through their first projects._
   - _The master craftsman guided each apprentice for several years._

## Noun

15. A strip or device that directs a typesetter's eye to the line of copy being set. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A strip that helped a typesetter keep their eyes on the right line of text.
   - _The compositor slid the guide along the manuscript as each line was set._
   - _At the old print shop, the compositor slid a metal guide down the manuscript so his eye would always land on the line he was setting in type._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A member of a marching formation who sets the pattern of movement and alignment for everyone else.
- (noun) A grooved instrument along which a probe or knife is directed during surgery.
- (noun) One of the vanes or channels on a water wheel that steer the incoming water into its buckets.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 7–15** — The noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ('to see, know'), which gave Proto-Germanic *wītaną ('to see, know; go, depart') and then Frankish *wītan ('to show the way, lead'). From Frankish came Old Occitan guidar and its noun guida, borrowed into Old French as guide and from there into Middle English. English wit is related.
**Meanings 3–6** — The verb rests on Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ('to see, know'), source of Proto-Germanic *wītaną ('to see, know; go, depart'), which in Frankish became *wītan ('to show the way, lead'). Old Occitan took it up as guidar, Old French made it guider, and Middle English had it as guiden.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/guide (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).