guide
verb (used with object)
to assist (a person) to travel through, or reach a destination in, an unfamiliar area, as by accompanying or giving directions to the person.
guide
American
[gahyd]
/ gaɪd /
verb (used with object)
-
guides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
guided,
past participle, past
-
guiding
present participle
-
to assist (a person) to travel through, or reach a destination in, an unfamiliar area, as by accompanying or giving directions to the person.
He guided us through the forest.
- Antonyms:
- follow
-
to accompany (a sightseer) to show points of interest and to explain their meaning or significance.
-
to force (a person, object, or animal) to move in a certain path.
-
to supply (a person) with advice or counsel, as in practical or spiritual affairs.
-
to supervise (someone's actions or affairs) in an advisory capacity.
noun
-
guides
plural
-
a person who guides, especially one hired to guide travelers, tourists, hunters, etc.
-
a mark, tab, or the like, to catch the eye and thus provide quick reference.
- Synonyms:
- clue, key, indication, signal, sign
-
a guidebook.
-
a book, pamphlet, etc., giving information, instructions, or advice; handbook.
an investment guide.
-
a guidepost.
-
a device that regulates or directs progressive motion or action.
a sewing-machine guide.
-
a spirit believed to direct the utterances of a medium.
-
Military. a member of a group marching in formation who sets the pattern of movement or alignment for the rest.
guide
1
British
/ ɡaɪd /
verb
-
to lead the way for (a person)
-
to control the movement or course of (an animal, vehicle, etc) by physical action; steer
-
to supervise or instruct (a person)
-
(tr) to direct the affairs of (a person, company, nation, etc)
he guided the country through the war
-
(tr) to advise or influence (a person) in his standards or opinions
let truth guide you always
noun
-
-
a person, animal, or thing that guides
-
( as modifier )
a guide dog
-
-
a person, usually paid, who conducts tour expeditions, etc
-
a model or criterion, as in moral standards or accuracy
-
See guidebook
-
a book that instructs or explains the fundamentals of a subject or skill
a guide to better living
-
any device that directs the motion of a tool or machine part
-
-
a mark, sign, etc, that points the way
-
( in combination )
guidepost
-
-
spiritualism a spirit believed to influence a medium so as to direct what he utters and convey messages through him
-
-
navy a ship in a formation used as a reference for manoeuvres, esp with relation to maintaining the correct formation and disposition
-
military a soldier stationed to one side of a column or line to regulate alignment, show the way, etc
-
Guide
2
British
/ ɡaɪd /
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say guide?
To guide someone is to assist them in traveling through or in reaching a destination by accompanying them or giving them directions. How does guide compare to synonyms conduct, direct, and lead? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
guidernoun
-
preguideverb (used with object)
-
reguideverb (used with object)
-
guidableadjective
-
guidelessadjective
-
guidingadjective
-
nonguidableadjective
-
unguidableadjective
-
guidinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
guidesimple
-
guidessimple
-
have guidedperfect
-
has guidedperfect
-
am guidingprogressive
-
are guidingprogressive
-
is guidingprogressive
-
have been guidingperfect progressive
-
has been guidingperfect progressive
Past
-
guidedsimple
-
had guidedperfect
-
was guidingprogressive
-
were guidingprogressive
-
had been guidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of guide
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English giden (verb), gide (noun), from Old French gui(d)er (verb), gui(d)e (noun), from Germanic; akin to wit 2 ( def. )
Explanation
A guide is someone who shows you the way. You'd be lucky to have a kind older sibling to act as your guide through middle school, giving you advice and helping you figure out the school and social scenes. A guide often leads tourists through a city, taking them to important sites, or assists a group of mountain climbers. Another kind of guide is a book of helpful instructions about what to see in a particular country, how to get along with your teenager, or the best way to grow orchids. When you guide people, you help them find their way, whether it's through the New York subway system or through the steps of building a campfire.
Vocabulary lists containing guide
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Motherlode: A Mother's Day Lexicon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The results provide new insight into viruses that persist in the body and could eventually help guide strategies for preventing or treating their reactivation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Superior torque means the electric versions get stuck less frequently than their diesel-powered counterparts, but photographer and guide Mark Dunsmuir said the real prize is the sound of life on the tundra.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“What people are really looking for is a guide, and for the adviser to be a thought partner,” Garrett says.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
If she were to come to you, what she should be listening to or watching, what’s the guide you’d give her?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“I think some part of me thought that the lighthouse would guide my family back to me.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
The uncanny valley is live for consumption, for free, at No. 300 on the Roku Channel’s Live TV Guide.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
Shock and grief have hit members of the alpine climbing community with the President of Nepal's National Mountain Guide Association Tul Singh Gurung saying they had "lost a generation of accomplished mountaineers".
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Kathy L. McNair, author of “The Solo Senior’s Guide to Thrive” and an estate-planning attorney in Belmont, Mass., sees this happen frequently among retirees.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
Prior to his TV career, Shalit was a senior film critic for Look Magazine, and continued to spend years penning columns in the New York Times, Ladies' Home Journal and TV Guide.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
It dominated the headlines of the Pittsburgh Courier, the Norfolk Journal and Guide, the Baltimore Afro-American, the Chicago Defender, and every other Negro newspaper in the country.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
For the full year, Paramount now guides for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion, up from a prior outlook of $3.8 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Then there's Nima Sherpa, 36, who scaled four eight-thousanders in 2026 alone, and Nawang Thindu Sherpa, who in his 20s was among Nepal's rising generation of mountain guides.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The former Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Hearts boss stressed the need for time and for further additions as he guides the Ibrox outfit through a summer of transition.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Users create maps, fictional diary entries, survival guides, found-footage videos and first-person explorations that collectively expand the world.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Relief troops were escorted by guides who knew every twist and turn of the trench system.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
She emerged from the reggaeton thunderstorm that hijacked the planet, but then guided it smoothly into a different aesthetic territory, far away from the movement’s misogynistic toxicity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Miraz guided the tail superbly for his 65 from 154 balls as the Bangladesh lower order frustrated Australia's tiring bowling attack.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The tours are all guided and numbers have been kept low -- at just 275 people a night.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
They guided human stem cells into becoming heart muscle cells.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
I did not need to be guided to the well-known room, to which I had so often been summoned for chastisement or reprimand in former days.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Ads feature Leon guiding chief executives across mountains and rivers that double as metaphors for the risks posed by AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The review would be done by the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, a behind-the-scenes board of community members that fills a Congressionally-mandated role guiding policy for federally-funded programs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Previously Datadog was guiding for revenue of between $4.3 billion and $4.34 billion and adjusted earnings per share of between $2.36 and $2.44.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Two of the 15 times he summited Everest he did so guiding double-leg amputees up the mountain.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
At the top of the stairs they reach a black platform, where everything is endlessly dark save for a circus worker in a white suit who is guiding patrons inside.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
