guideline

American  

[gahyd-lahyn] / ˈgaɪdˌlaɪn /

noun

• guidelines
  plural

1. any guide or indication of a future course of action.

   guidelines on the government's future policy.

2. a lightly marked line used as a guide, as in composing a drawing, a typed page, or a line of lettering.

3. a rope or cord that serves to guide one's steps, especially over rocky terrain, through underground passages, etc.

4. a rope or wire used in guiding the movement of stage scenery or curtains being raised or lowered.

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guideline British  

/ ˈɡaɪdˌlaɪn /

noun

1. a principle put forward to set standards or determine a course of action

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• guidelines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of guideline

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; guide + line ¹

Explanation

A guideline is a rule-of-thumb or suggestion that shows or tells you how to behave. If you want to stay healthy, you might want to follow the government's dietary guidelines. Sample guideline: go easy on the salt. In the 18th century, guideline referred to an actual line that you drew on fabric before cutting. So for example, if you wanted to cut a piece of linen to make a dress, you'd draw a guideline on it first to make sure the incision would be straight. The line guided your cut; over time, the word became a metaphor for a guide to any sort of action.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guideline guidelines

In addition to announcing that agency staff must now get Aronowitz’s sign-off before any major enforcement action, it set a new guideline for investigators.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

"This new guideline will help improve consistency of care, increase awareness of the condition, and support earlier diagnosis and management."

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

Yet adults need only around this amount of vitamin B12 each day, depending on the guideline used, to support red blood cells, nerves and DNA production.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026

Understanding the connection helps both the clinician and the patient, said Dr. Jay Shubrook, a family physician and professor at Touro University California, who wasn’t involved with the new guideline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

I realized then why he had used our rope sparingly; why he had made my guideline down to east beach from vines instead of rope.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

Even with those limitations, the researchers said the findings support current exercise guidelines as a reliable minimum level for cardiovascular protection.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

The music industry’s biggest players have proposed several guidelines for how to treat music produced with AI.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Nice said it welcomed the findings and recognised the potential of such multifactorial risk assessment tools but said the current evidence did not warrant a change to its breast cancer guidelines.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

States should implement controls including required authorization before ABA services begin and reauthorization near the end of the approved period, to ensure services are medically necessary and appropriate, the guidelines say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Although this attitude wasn’t uncommon at the time, NIH guidelines stipulated that all human subject research funded by NIH—as McKusick’s was —required both informed consent and approval from a Hopkins review board.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• code
• ground rule
• guidance
• instruction
• protocol
• rule