guidelines

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of guideline.

   The agency revised its lending guidelines after the financial crisis.

   Architects must work within local zoning guidelines when drafting plans.

   Note

   The plural carries both lives of the noun. In policy and practice it names a set of advisory rules or plans, such as lending or zoning guidelines, that steer action without fixing every detail. In lettering it is literal: faint ruled lines that keep letters aligned. The same spelling also serves the verb form, so check whether the word follows a subject and takes an object before reading it as a noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of guideline.

   Note

   A verb made from the noun itself: to guideline someone is to give them guidelines. It takes a direct object, sometimes followed by a phrase saying what the guidance covers, as in a manual that guidelines contractors on materials. It is spelled like the plural noun and is told apart by position, since here it follows a singular subject and governs an object.

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