# guy

Pronunciation: US/UK say "GY" /ɡaɪ/; AUS

## Noun

1. A man or boy, referred to or addressed informally. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A word people use in everyday talk for a man or a boy.
   - _The guy at the counter helped me find the right size._
   - _Two guys in suits were waiting outside the office._
2. A person of any gender, used chiefly in the plural to address or refer to a group informally.
   - Simple: Any person at all, used most often in the plural to talk to or about a group, whatever their gender.
   - _Thanks for coming, guys. Grab a seat anywhere._
   - _I'm having lunch with the guys from accounting, Maria and Jen._
3. Informal: an animal or thing, referred to fondly or casually as if it were a person. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A friendly way to talk about an animal or a thing, as in 'this little guy'.
   - _The cat stretched out on the sofa. The little guy owns the place._
   - _My son won't sleep without this little guy, a worn-out stuffed bear with one ear._
4. A rope, chain, or cable used to steady or secure something, such as a mast, tent, or tower, or a load being hoisted.
   - Simple: A rope or wire that holds something steady, like a tent, a mast, or a tall tower.
   - _Workers fastened a guy from the antenna to a concrete anchor in the ground._
   - _Each guy was tensioned evenly so the mast stayed perfectly upright._
6. A straw-and-cloth effigy of a man, burned on a bonfire in Britain each November 5th to mark the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A model of a man that people in Britain burn on a bonfire on November 5th.
   - _Every November the village makes a guy and sets it atop the bonfire._
   - _The kids stuffed an old jacket to build their guy for the fifth._

## Verb

5. To fit or secure something with one or more support cables to keep it steady.
   - Simple: To attach ropes or cables to something to hold it steady.
   - _The crew guyed the new mast to four anchor points._
   - _Riggers guy each section as the antenna goes up._
8. To mock or ridicule someone or something, especially through comic imitation or exaggerated performance.
   - Simple: To make fun of someone or something, often by copying or acting it out in a silly way.
   - _Comedians guy public figures every night on late-night television._
   - _Her classmates guyed her gently about mixing up the dates._

## Verb

7. To display an effigy of Guy Fawkes in public in the days around the fifth of November. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: To show a model of Guy Fawkes in public around November 5th.

## Noun

9. A person of grotesque or eccentric appearance, especially one oddly or shabbily dressed; a fright. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A person who looks strange or funny because of odd clothes or appearance.
10. A guide, leader, or conductor who directs the way for others. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A guide or leader who shows others the way.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 6–9** — From Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), executed for the Gunpowder Plot: his first name passed to the effigies burned each 5 November, then in England to any shabbily dressed man, and in American slang to any man at all. The name itself came through Old French Gui from a short Germanic name, Wido.
**Meanings 4–5, 10** — Proto-Germanic *wītaną ("know") is the ultimate source, by way of Frankish *wītan. Old French guie, which goes with the verb guier ("guide"), came from that, and English took the word from Old French. English guide is a cognate.

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