guarantee

American  

[gar-uhn-tee] / ˌgær ənˈti /

noun

• guarantees
  plural

1. a promise or assurance, especially one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit, etc., or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time.

   a money-back guarantee.

2. an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty.

3. something that assures a particular outcome or condition.

   Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.

4. a person who gives a guarantee or guaranty; guarantor.

5. a person to whom a guarantee is made.

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verb (used with object)

• guarantees,
  present (3rd person singular)
• guaranteed,
  past participle,  past
• guaranteeing
  present participle

1. to secure, as by giving or taking security.

   A credit card guarantees your reservation at the hotel.

2. to make oneself answerable for (something) on behalf of someone else who is primarily responsible.

   to guarantee the fulfillment of a contract.

3. to undertake to ensure for another, as rights or possessions.

   The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

4. to serve as a warrant or guaranty for.

5. to undertake to protect or indemnify.

   to guarantee a person against loss.

6. to undertake (to do something).

   I will guarantee to prove every word I stated.

7. to promise (usually followed by a clause as object).

   I guarantee that I'll be there.

guarantee British  

/ ˌɡærənˈtiː /

noun

1. a formal assurance, esp in writing, that a product, service, etc, will meet certain standards or specifications

2. law a promise, esp a collateral agreement, to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another

3. 1. a person, company, etc, to whom a guarantee is made

   2. a person, company, etc, who gives a guarantee

4. a person who acts as a guarantor

5. something that makes a specified condition or outcome certain

6. a variant spelling of guaranty

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verb

1. (also tr) to take responsibility for (someone else's debts, obligations, etc)

2. to serve as a guarantee for

3. to secure or furnish security for

   a small deposit will guarantee any dress

4. to undertake to protect or keep secure, as against injury, loss, etc

5. to ensure

   good planning will guarantee success

6. (may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to promise or make certain

Usage

What does guarantee mean? A guarantee is a promise or assurance, especially one that is written or legally binding, that something is of a stated quality or will perform as stated, such as a guarantee that a car you purchase will operate correctly. A guarantee is also an assurance of a particular outcome or condition, as in Weather predictions are not guarantees. Weather often changes quickly. To guarantee something is to secure something, as a ticket guarantees entry to a movie showing. As well, to guarantee is to promise to do something, usually by signing a legally binding agreement, as in The company guaranteed me a job when I signed the contract. Example: I guarantee you will love your purchase and will give you a full refund if you don’t.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonguarantee
  noun
• preguarantee
  noun
• reguarantee
  noun
• superguarantee
  noun
• quasi-guaranteed
  adjective
• unguaranteed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• guarantees
  plural

Participles

• guaranteeing
  present
• guaranteed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• guarantee
  simple
• guarantees
  simple
• have guaranteed
  perfect
• has guaranteed
  perfect
• am guaranteeing
  progressive
• are guaranteeing
  progressive
• is guaranteeing
  progressive
• have been guaranteeing
  perfect progressive
• has been guaranteeing
  perfect progressive

Past

• guaranteed
  simple
• had guaranteed
  perfect
• was guaranteeing
  progressive
• were guaranteeing
  progressive
• had been guaranteeing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will guarantee
  simple
• will have guaranteed
  perfect
• will be guaranteeing
  progressive
• will have been guaranteeing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of guarantee

First recorded in 1670–80; alteration of guaranty

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Explanation

To guarantee is to promise or to a make binding agreement. If a baseball player guarantees his team will win the World Series, he better not lead the league in strikeouts. Guarantee is a word that is both a noun and a verb: the noun means "a binding agreement" and the verb is the act of making that agreement. This word seems to have come from garante, the Spanish word for "protect" and it's related to the Old French word warrant, which means "to authorize." Today, we often come across guarantee in advertisements, and you might wonder how they might guarantee to make your social life better if your teeth are whiter!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guarantee guarantees guaranteed guaranteeing

Lecornu will meet with representatives from five unions on Wednesday to discuss "ways and means to guarantee the essential freedom to demonstrate" according to a letter sent to the organisations.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

"The special committees have not reached agreement on terms of any transaction and there's no guarantee that they will," Musk added.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Look up your state guarantee association’s annuity limit.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

One would certainly think that would guarantee her job security.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

In my fantasy I was the first wife but I knew there was no guarantee of that; I might be hidden anywhere in the long chain of wives.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Needless to say, however, there are no guarantees.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

There would be no guarantees that those watching illegally today would take out legitimate subscriptions tomorrow.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

Four months earlier, he had signed a three-year contract that included $35 million in guarantees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Her son-in-law helped her move the money to a traditional fixed annuity that guarantees a 5.85% annual rate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

Even the doctor says there are no guarantees.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar

A positive return on the market is not guaranteed, of course, but based on historical averages, the long-term trajectory is upward.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

SpaceX’s June IPO raised $86 billion with founder Elon Musk guaranteed near complete control.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

The market rarely runs smoothly, and some years see a negative return, so nothing is guaranteed.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Musk said that while the vehicle's "success is not guaranteed... it will probably work."

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

But he couldn’t help a flicker of despair now, when the one thing he should do—namely, fly before the storm and let it blow itself out—was the one thing guaranteed to get them shot down.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

Season-ticket packages had been available, guaranteeing seats for each London game with a discount, but they were scrapped after the 2024 season.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Larry Ellison is personally guaranteeing the equity needed for Paramount to buy Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Congress settled that conflict decades ago by law, guaranteeing the paper’s editorial independence.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

It is also guaranteeing $36 billion in sales for cloud-computing companies it sells chips to, in exchange for revenue-sharing deals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

If we could check that the candidate landing site was not covered with sifting, drifting dust, we would have at least a fair chance of guaranteeing that the winds were not intolerably high.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• agreement
• assurance
• certificate
• collateral
• contract
• deposit
• insurance
• security
• warranty

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