Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

by guess and by golly

 - 2 dictionary results

guess

  [ges]
Use by guess and by golly in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully: to guess a person's weight.
2. to estimate or conjecture about correctly: to guess what a word means.
3. to think, believe, or suppose: I guess I can get there in time.
–verb (used without object)
4. to form an estimate or conjecture (often fol. by at or about): We guessed at the weight of the package.
5. to estimate or conjecture correctly.
–noun
6. an opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.
7. the act of forming such an opinion: to take a guess at someone's weight.
—Idiom
8. by guess and by gosh, Northern U.S. using a combination of guesswork and reliance on luck; hit or miss. Also, by guess and by golly.
Origin:
1300–50; (v.) ME gessen, perh. < Scand; cf. Sw, Dan, Norw gissa, MLG gissen, MD gessen, ON geta; (n.) ME gesse, deriv. of the v. See get

Related forms:
guess⋅a⋅ble, adjective
guesser, noun
guess⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. hazard. 1, 2, 4. Guess, guess at, conjecture, surmise imply attempting to form an opinion as to the probable. To guess is to risk an opinion regarding something one does not know about, or, wholly or partly by chance, to arrive at the correct answer to a question: to guess the outcome of a game. Guess at implies more haphazard or random guessing: to guess at the solution of a crime. To conjecture is to make inferences in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish certainty: to conjecture the circumstances of the crime. Surmise implies making an intuitive conjecture that may or may not be correct: to surmise the motives that led to it. 3. fancy, imagine. 6. supposition.

Antonyms:
3. know.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To by guess and by golly
Word Origin & History

guess  (v.)
c.1303, gessen "to estimate, appraise," originally "take aim," probably from Scand. (cf. Middle Danish gitse, getze "to guess," O.N. geta "guess, get"), possibly infl. by M.Du. gessen, M.L.G. gissen "to guess," all from P.Gmc. *getiskanan "to get" (see move). Sense evolution is from "to get," to "to take aim at," to "to estimate." U.S. sense of "calculate, recon" is true to the oldest Eng. meaning. Spelling with gu- is late 16c., sometimes attributed to Caxton and his early experience as a printer in Bruges. Guesswork is from 1725. Guesstimate is 1934, coined by statisticians, blending guess and estimate.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see by guess and by golly on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way