guest

[ gest ]

/ gɛst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR guest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.

a person who receives the hospitality of a club, a city, or the like.

a person who patronizes a hotel, restaurant, etc., for the lodging, food, or entertainment it provides.

an often well-known person invited to participate or perform in a regular program, series, etc., as a substitute for a regular member or as a special attraction.

Zoology. an inquiline.

verb (used with object)

to entertain as a guest.

verb (used without object)

to be a guest; make an appearance as a guest: She's been guesting on all the TV talk shows.

adjective

provided for or done by a guest: a guest towel; a guest column for a newspaper.

participating or performing as a guest: a guest conductor.

Nearby words

Origin of guest

before 900; Middle English gest < Old Norse gestr; replacing Old English gi(e)st; cognate with German Gast, Gothic gasts, Latin hostis; cf. host¹, host²

SYNONYMS FOR guest

1. company. See visitor.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR guest ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsguest·less, adjective

Can be confusedguessed guest

Guest

[ gest ]

/ gɛst /

noun

Edgar A(lbert),1881–1959, U.S. journalist and writer of verse, born in England.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for guest

And then I met him before I started doing the impression of him when he was a guest on SNL for a moment.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Al Qaeda has never managed to carve out a large chunk of real estate to call its own—in Afghanistan it was a guest of the Taliban.
ISIS’s Futile Quest to Go Legit|Jamie Dettmer|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That explains the impressive roster of guest stars the series has racked up of politicians playing themselves.
Inside the Political Fun House: How ‘Alpha House’ Became Amazon’s First Big Hit|Kevin Fallon|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rachel Maddow, too, apparently impresses in her upcoming season two guest turn.
Inside the Political Fun House: How ‘Alpha House’ Became Amazon’s First Big Hit|Kevin Fallon|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Maintaining the high caliber of guest to which his viewers have become accustomed, Galifianakis welcomes Brad Pitt to the ferns.
Brad Pitt and Louis C.K. Go ‘Between Two Ferns’|Alex Chancey, The Daily Beast Video|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"This is an appalling way to treat a guest," she said as they walked slowly towards home.
Captivity|M. Leonora Eyles
Meantime, Allison and Kitty, hurrying home with their guest, had delighted Norah by a demand for early supper.
The Little Colonel at Boarding-School|Annie Fellows Johnston
Come with me to my own room,” said Alcibiades to his guest, “we shall be here alone.
Callias|Alfred John Church
If Rose baked a cake for a wedding supper, this did not militate in the least against her eligibility as a guest of the occasion.
Otherwise Phyllis|Meredith Nicholson
To-night, every inmate was thoroughly miserable, except their guest.
The Rushton Boys at Rally Hall|Spencer Davenport

British Dictionary definitions for guest

guest

/ (ɡɛst) /

noun

a person who is entertained, taken out to eat, etc, and paid for by another

a person who receives hospitality at the home of anothera weekend guest
(as modifier)the guest room

a person who receives the hospitality of a government, establishment, or organization
(as modifier)a guest speaker

an actor, contestant, entertainer, etc, taking part as a visitor in a programme in which there are also regular participants
(as modifier)a guest appearance

a patron of a hotel, boarding house, restaurant, etc

zoology a nontechnical name for inquiline

be my guest informal do as you like

verb

(intr) (in theatre and broadcasting) to be a guestto guest on a show

Word Origin for guest

Old English giest guest, stranger, enemy; related to Old Norse gestr, Gothic gasts, Old High German gast, Old Slavonic gostǐ, Latin hostis enemy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for guest

guest

Old English gæst, giest (Anglian gest) "guest; enemy; stranger," the common notion being "stranger," from Proto-Germanic *gastiz (cf. Old Frisian jest, Dutch gast, German Gast, Gothic gasts "guest," originally "stranger"), from PIE root *ghosti- "strange" (cf. Latin hostis "enemy," hospes "host" -- from *hosti-potis "host, guest," originally "lord of strangers" -- Greek xenos "guest, host, stranger;" Old Church Slavonic gosti "guest, friend," gospodi "lord, master").

Spelling evolution influenced by Old Norse cognate gestr (the usual sound changes from the Old English word would have yielded Modern English *yest). Phrase be my guest in the sense of "go right ahead" first recorded 1955.

Idioms and Phrases with guest

guest

see be my guest.

guest

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of guest

Guest

noun

Examples from the Web for guest

guest

noun

verb

Word Origin for guest

guest

guest