guys

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of guy.

   A couple of guys were waiting outside the office.

   The guys on the team practiced until dark.

   Note

   One plural covers a surprisingly wide family. It can mean effigies of Guy Fawkes burned on bonfires in Britain and Ireland every 5 November, people of eccentric dress in a dated sense, or simply men and boys. The plural is also where the word most readily stops meaning men at all and means people in general, the shift that makes the group greeting possible.

2. 2
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A form of address for a group of people, used whether its members are men, women, or both.

   Thanks for showing up early, guys; we have a lot to get through.

   Okay guys, grab your jackets and meet me by the entrance.

   Similarfolks, people

   Note

   A greeting and a call to attention more than a description. It sits at the edge of a sentence, as in Hi guys! or Okay guys, let's start, and in writing it is set off by a comma. The singular still means a man or boy, so the gender-neutral reach belongs to this plural address. It stays colloquial, suited to friends and casual groups rather than formal speeches or letters.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of guy.

   The rigger guys the antenna mast with three steel cables.

   Each morning the sailor guys the boom to keep it from swinging.

   Note

   One spelling does several unrelated jobs. A rigger guys a mast by bracing it with support cables. A comic guys a part by playing it for laughs. A sharp-tongued friend guys you by ridiculing you with wit or innuendo. Around the 5th of November, someone who guys is parading a Guy Fawkes effigy, and that use takes no object. Context, and whether an object follows, tells them apart.

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