▪ I. guide, n.
(gaɪd)
Forms: 4–6 gyde, guyde, 5–6 gide, (5 gydde), 6 gyd, Sc. gyid, gwyd(e, (gwide), 7 guid, 6– guide.
[a. F. guide, orig. fem., now masc. (exc. in the pl. guides reins), an altered form (first recorded in 14th c.) of the earlier OF. guie (see guy n.1) = Pr., It. guida, Sp., Pg. guia:—Com. Rom. *guida, vbl. noun f. guidare: see guy v.1 The d of the Fr. word is due to the influence of Pr. or It. forms.]
I. One who guides.
1. a. One who leads or shows the way, esp. to a traveller in a strange country; spec. one who is hired to conduct a traveller or tourist (e.g. over a mountain, through a forest, or over a city or building) and to point out objects of interest.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 1 This weore a wikked wei bote hose hedde a gyde, That mihte folwen us vch a fote forte that we come there. 1377 Ibid. B. xv. 428 Hem..that the heigh weye shulde teche, And be gyde, and go bifore as a good baneoure. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 84 The lydder gyddes that hym shold lode, slowe hy[m]. 1463 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 227 Item, ffor a gyde ovyr the Wayssche the sayd day, ij.d. 1535 Coverdale Acts i. 16 Iudas which was a gyde of them that toke Iesus. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. x. 122 He which is the guide goeth before mounted on a cammel. 1644 Milton Educ. Wks. 1738 I. 140 To ride out in companies with prudent and staid guides to all the quarters of the Land. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iii, As the floods were not yet subsided, we were obliged to hire a guide, who trotted on before. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest. i, La Motte wished at first to take a guide. 1806 Feltham Guide Watering Places 27 A Guide shall not demand more than 1s. for each time of bathing. 1838 Murray's Hand-bk. N. Germ. 192 A driver..who will serve as a guide, and be able to give some information about the inns and country through which he has to pass. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iii. 23, I sought to obtain a guide at Kaltebrunnen. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1599 Davies Nosce teipsum 42 Here are they [sc. eyes] guides, which do the Body leade; Which else would stumble in eternall night. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 647 The World was all before them..and Providence thir guide. 1795–1814 Wordsw. Excursion v. 741 My feet and hands at length became Guides better than mine eyes. |
† c. A director or wielder (of a weapon).
Obs.| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 136 Thorw me men gon..Onto the mortal strokis of the spere Of whiche disdayn & daunger is the gyde. |
† d. One who controls the movements of an animal or a flock; a driver, keeper.
Obs. rare.
| 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. 22 Each Elephant had his Guide sitting upon his Neck. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 780 Bulls..Which on Lycæus graze without a Guide. |
2. a. Mil. One employed or forced to accompany an invading army, in order to show the way, give information about the enemy's country, position, etc.
| c 1540 Order in Battayll B 7 He muste haue guydes that knowe the countrye. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict., Guides, are generally the country people in the neighbourhood where the army encamps: they are to give you intelligence concerning the country [etc.]. |
b. pl. In certain armies, men formed into companies for guiding and reconnoitring service. (See
quots.)
| 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v., Corps des guides, The corps of guides. This body was originally formed in France in the year 1756. 1820 Ranken Hist. France VIII. vii. 408 The captain general of his majesty's guides. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) 173 In the Indian army the name of ‘Guides’ is given to a regiment of cavalry and infantry attached to the Punjab frontier force. It was raised by the late Sir Henry Lawrence, chiefly with the view to the men acting as scouts. 1892 R. Kipling East & West 9 in Barrack-room Ballads (ed. 2) 76 Then up and spoke the Colonel's son that led a troop of the Guides. |
c. One of the two officers of a company, called respectively the
right guide and
left guide, who superintend the movements of the company, and mark the pivots, formations, etc. in military evolutions. Also a vessel by the movements of which the others are guided in the manœuvres of a fleet.
| 1870 Field Exerc. Infantry ii. vi. 59 The commander of the company will be termed ‘the captain’, the senior subaltern, ‘the right guide’, and the junior subaltern ‘the left guide’. Ibid. 68 On the word Advance, the guide will select points to march on. 1899 Daily News 21 July 10/3 The meaning of the term ‘Guide of the Fleet’ will now be apparent. The Europa is the only vessel which has nothing to do except go straight ahead on the course set by the Admiral, all the others depending upon her. |
d. (Usu. with capital initial.) A girl aged between about 10 and 16 who is a member of the Girl Guides Association, an organization of girls, established in 1910, corresponding to the Boy Scouts. In full (formerly)
Girl Guide. Also
attrib. and
Comb., as
Guide camp,
guide-mistress, etc.
| 1909 Boy Scouts' Headquarters' Gaz. Nov. 12/1 (heading) The scheme for ‘Girl Guides’. Ibid. 12/2 Each Guide must be able to describe the..flower..and must be able to draw its outline. Ibid. 13/1 Where it is desired to start ‘Girl Guides’ it would be best for ladies interested to form a Committee. 1916 [see Brownie1 2]. 1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 23 July 4/5 While he was in that part of the grounds he happened to notice Guide-mistress Miss Leighton in the crowd. He greeted her again, telling her how well he thought the Girl Guides had marched. 1924 A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl i. v, Alix heard of a Women's Institute, of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. 1932 H. Nicolson Public Faces viii. 213 She entered, swinging her hips a little with what Shorland had once called her girl-guide gait. 1941 J. S. Huxley Uniqueness of Man xii. 253 A girl-guide organizer. 1962 Guardian 21 Mar. 6/7 The elder children will..go to Guide camps. 1969 Policy, Organisation & Rules of Girl Guides Assoc. (ed. 33) 40 A Brownie Guide, Guide, or Ranger Guide may belong to only one Unit but may be attached to another. 1971 Guider Oct. 363 May I please make a further appeal..for all Guiders to make sure that their Brownies, Guides and Rangers know all about their respective section magazines. |
(
b) Hence
Guider, an adult leader in the Girl Guide movement (in full formerly
Girl Guider; now
Brownie Guider,
Guide Guider, or
Ranger Guider);
Guide's honour, the oath taken by a Girl Guide, used as a protestation of honour and sincerity; also
transf. in jocular use;
girl-guidey,
-guidish adjs., pertaining to, or typical of, a Girl Guide;
guiding vbl. n., the activities practised by Girl Guides (
cf. scouting vbl. n.1 1 b).
| 1912 A. Baden-Powell Handbk. Girl Guides i. 38 A Guide's Honour is to be trusted. If a Guide says ‘On my honour it is so’, that means that it is so just as if she had taken a most solemn oath. 1924 A. Kindersley Guiding Bk. 7 It is these things, then, that poets have always sung and writers celebrated, and it is to them once more that we have looked..to help with this true explanation of Guiding. 1931 E. M. R. Burgess Girl Guide Bk. Ideas 3 It is an inspiring thought that throughout the British Empire there are Guides and Guiders like ourselves. 1944 Times 5 May 7/2 Guiders, Rangers, Guides and Brownies continued to render valuable war service. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xv. 135 If there was a fat, thumping falsehood to be propped up, ‘Guide's Honour’ was always promptly evoked. 1959 Guide's honour [see Brownie1 2]. 1960 J. Betjeman Summoned by Bells iv. 37 She came, a woman of the open air, Swarthy and in Girl-Guide-y sort of clothes. 1962 A. Lejeune Duel in Shadows vii. 96 ‘You must keep this to yourself.’ ‘My dear man,’ she protested. ‘Professional ethics. Guide's honour.’ 1963 Listener 10 Jan. 96/3 If occasionally girl-guidish, she has a sharp eye. 1963 I. Fleming On H.M. Secret Service x. 106 The girls all seemed to share a certain basic, girl-guidish simplicity. 1966 Listener 20 Oct. 571/3 They see Scouting (and Guiding) as a unique medium for this ‘social education’. 1968 Even. Standard 23 Oct. 15 (heading) Former Girl Guider jailed for contempt. 1969 Policy, Organisation & Rules of Girl Guides Assoc. (ed. 33) 42 The Guide Guider and the Assistant Guide Guider are the adult leaders of the Company. Ibid., All Units..are known officially as Ranger Guide Service Units, their members as Ranger Guides, and their Guiders as Ranger Guiders. |
3. a. One who directs a person in his ways or conduct; an adviser;
† a ruler, leader, governor.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 94 Be ye my gyde and lady souereyne. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4053 Agamynon the gret, was gide of hom all, Leder of þo lordis. c 1450 Merlin 524 Now God be his gide for his grete pite. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 Seynge the holy lyfe and examples of vertue in theyr gydes or leaders. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iii. §4 Who the guide of nature, but only the God of nature? 1597 Ibid. v. lxxviii. §1 They subject to the principal guides and leaders of their own order, and they all in obedience under the high priest. 1696 Phillips, Guide,..a director of Youth. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1733) I. iii. 169 He could be enobled to become our Adviser and Guide. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, vi. Wks. 1813 VI. 110 They were the spiritual guides of almost every person eminent for rank or power. 1806 Feltham Guide Watering Places 24 Persons of delicate constitutions are frequently recommended by their medical guides to use the bath in the evening. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 879 The course of life that seem'd so flowery to me With you for guide and master. |
b. transf. of things.
| 14.. That Pes may Stond in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 155 Wolde we be trwe..And lett not falsdom be owre gyde. 1641 Milton Animadv. iv. Wks. (1847) 65/1 Open your eyes to the light of grace, a better guide than Nature. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) Ded., I..make my publick Acknowledgements that it may be a Guid to other mens Contentments. 1736 Butler Anal. Introd., Wks. 1874 I. 3 To us, probability is the very guide of life. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 271 Let experiments then and facts be our guides. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 95 They were dangerous guides, the feelings. 1880 Glenny Year's Work in Garden viii. 208 Our selection may be looked upon as a trustworthy guide. 1884 A. R. Pennington Wiclif ix. 286 Scripture is our guide even in matters of ecclesiastical usage. |
c. Spiritualism.
= control n. 4 b.
| 1856 Spiritual Herald July 191 Annie passed into the trance, and said: I can see my guide now, my own guide. 1885 Cent. Mag. XXX. 381/2, I can't seem to do anything in these days, now that I no longer have a Guide. 1957 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation i. 19 The so-called ‘controls’ or ‘guides’ of mediums... It is considered de rigueur for a professional medium to be under control by a spirit guide. |
4. In the titles of books:
a. A book of instruction or information for beginners or novices (in an art, etc.).
| 1617 Minsheu Ductor (title-p.), The Gvide Into Tongves. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. a iv, Mr. Thomas Coopers Art of Giving, or a Guide to Charity, in Octavo. 1667 R. H. (title) The Guide in Controversies. 1780 Newgate Cal. V. 146 note, One little pamphlet, called ‘The Lover's New Guide’. 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 54, I should advise a ‘David's Household and Commercial Guide’. |
b. A book of information on places or objects of interest in a locality, city, building, etc.; a guidebook.
| 1759 (title) The New Oxford Guide; or, Companion through the University. 1766 [Anstey] (title) The New Bath Guide. 1781 (title) The Cheltenham Guide: or, useful companion, in a journey..to the Cheltenham Spa. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. l, Once she was seen reading the ‘Bath Guide’. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 183 On entering a great city, a stranger usually [visits] the booksellers' shops, in search of some descriptive guide which may assist him in exploring. |
| fig. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal I. vi. 147 He was a walking guide, a living hand-book to fashionable London. |
II. Something that guides.
5. gen.| 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 19 The directions they gave from the Shore, was a great guide to those poor people who were still in the Sea. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 51 Any sort of Timber work..cannot bed close, and must be a guide to Leakage. 1749 F. Smith Voy. Disc. II. 322 Concealing the true Reason that they [Charts] might be no Guides to others. |
6. a. Mechanics. Something which serves to steady or direct the motion of a thing, and upon, through, or against which it moves, slides, or is conducted in the required direction;
esp. a bar, rod, etc. which guides or ‘bears’ machinery having reciprocating motion; often in
pl.;
spec. in the
Steam engine, the rods on which the cross-head of the piston slides; also called
cross-head guides (see
cross-head n. 1); in
Mining, the bars or rails which guide the cage up and down the shaft. Also (see
quot. 1844).
| 1763–6 W. Lewis Comm. Phil Techn. 57 [Wire-drawing.] Directed by means of a small conical hole in a piece of iron, called a guide. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 427 Each spinner splices his thread, and throws it on the nearest guide, to keep it out of the way, and to conduct it to the winding-machine. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 500 If flax..be passed into the machine..through a guide..and be conducted [etc.]. 1844 W. Barnes Poems Dorset Dial. Gloss., Guides of a waggon, felly-pieces or arcs of circles fastened on the fore axle as a bearing for the bed of the waggon when it locks. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 597 There is a guide to prevent the lateral displacement of the edges. 1869 R. B. Smyth Goldf. Victoria 612 The distance between each couple of guides is just sufficient to admit of a cage working up and down between them. 1879 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §424 The nut, if prevented by fixed guides from rotating, will move in the direction of the common axis. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Guides, the holes in a cross-beam through which the stems of the stamps in a stamp-mill rise and fall. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 227/1 A useful rod for fly-fishing..may be equipped with either rings and keepers or standing guides. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 43 The rod's return whings glimmerin' through the guides. |
b. Something which guides a tool or the work operated upon;
spec., in
Oval-turning (see
quots. 1680, 1877); in
Iron-rolling (see
quot. 1881); in
Surgery, a director; in
Boring (see
quot. 1883).
| 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiv. 236 For then as the Treddle-Wheel carries the Axis about, the Guide being firmly fastned upon the Axis, comes also about; and having the Groove of the Guide-pulley set against the outer edge of the Guide, as the..small Diameter of the Guide comes to the Guide-pulley, the small Diameter of the Work is Formed; and as the great Diameter of the Guide comes to the Guide-pulley, the great Diameter of the Work is formed. 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 72 At the end of the mandrel..there is a screw..the thread of which is like that intended to be made. Upon this screw, called the guide, is fitted a piece of wood. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 860 A ledge or guide..to conduct the metal and to regulate the breadth of the piece to be cut off. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 354 A guide being placed upon the drill. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. 1984/1 If an oval or elliptical pattern be required, it may be obtained by means of an eccentric guide or ring of brass fastened to the puppet of the lathe. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., In a rolling-mill a guide is a wedge-shaped piece held in the groove of a roll to prevent the sticking of the bar by peeling it out of the groove. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coalmining s.v., Guides..A boring-rod having an enlargement or wings fitted to it to suit the size of the borehole for steadying the rods when a considerable depth has been attained. 1892 Powell Southward's Pract. Print. 426 Setting the Guides..Having ascertained these places, and marked them with a pencil, affix guides (which serve the place of the pins in the tympan of the hand press). These are also called ‘gauges’ and ‘lay marks’. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxiii. 372 These tubes he introduces by means of a special guide. |
7. Something which marks a position or serves to guide the eye.
| 1875 Southward Dict Typogr., Guide, a piece of heavy rule or lead, balanced by a light cord and a quotation, laid upon the copy to assist the compositor in keeping the connexion. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Guide, a pile driven to mark a site. |
8. Mus. = dux 2.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Guida, in the Italian music, the guide, or leading voice or instrument, in fugues. 1846 Buchanan Technol. Dict., Guide in music, the leading part in a canon or fugue. |
9. Mining. A cross-course or -vein.
| 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining 27 In St. Just, the cross veins are known as trawns, or guides. |
10. dial. A sinew or tendon. (
Cf. guider 5.)
| 1881 in Leicestersh. Gloss. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., ‘The guide's off’—that is, the tendon is dislocated. |
11. Electr. A linear structure (as a pair of wires or a waveguide) or a surface along or over which an electromagnetic wave is propagated and to which it is confined. Now
usu. short for waveguide.
| 1893 O. Heaviside Electromagnetic Theory I. iv. 399 When waves are left to themselves in ether without the presence of conductors, they expand and dissipate themselves... To prevent this we require conducting guides or leads..as a pair of parallel wires. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 215/1 The effects of the resistance of the guides are very complicated in general. 1936 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. XV. 284 Extremely high-frequency waves may be transmitted from one point to another, through specially constructed wave guides. The guide..may be a hollow copper pipe. 1947 W. H. Watson Physical Princ. Wave Guide Transmission p. v, A dielectric cylinder may also be used to guide electromagnetic waves of sufficiently high frequency and is usually called a dielectric guide. 1962 Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagnetic Waves xii. 424 The guide wave length..is longer than the free space wave length. |
III. 12. The action of the
vb. guide, in various senses; direction; conduct; guidance. Now
rare.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxi. 37 Of gyd and gouirnance we ar all solitair. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. x. 288 My Lords the Duke and Hereis baith Wer put in waird..Quhair thay are zit..And will be quhill sum men get ye gyde. 1602–3 Sir E. Stanhope Will in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 672, I comende..this Famous Colledge..to the guide and governement of the most holie and Blessed Trinitie. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 252 Pray entertaine them, giue them guide to vs. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xvii. 273 A man renown'd For guard of goats, which now he had in guide. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Disc. vii. §3 Whether we come..by the guide of an angel or the conduct of Moses. 1857–8 Sears Athan. vii. 64 Under the guide of these principles..the Bible pneumatology stands before us clear. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., Guide , guidance. ‘That mon dunna sem to have much guide on his hoss’. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 13. Simple
attrib., as
† guide-text; chiefly in the names of technical appliances and parts of machinery (see senses 6, 7), as
guide-bar,
guide-blade,
guide-chain,
guide-curve,
guide-eye,
guide-face,
guide-frame,
guide-framing,
guide-groove,
guide-iron,
guide-ledge,
guide-line,
guide-piece,
guide-pile,
guide-pin,
guide-plate,
guide-rail,
guide-ring,
guide-rod,
guide-roller,
guide-stick,
guide-timbers,
guide-wire.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 846 Small upright *guide-bars or rods for one of the corves. |
| 1860 W. Cullen Constr. Turbine 8 By means of curved *guide blades the quantity and direction of water are regulated and guided into the radiating passages of the wheel. |
| 1865 I. T. F. Turner Slate Quarries 8 Chains..which..as they guide the course of the loads, are termed *guide-chains. |
| 1853 Glynn Power Water 43 The pressure of the water is directed by the vanes or *guide-curves of the upper wheel into the buckets of the lower one. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1240 The yarn..finally proceeds obliquely downwards..after traversing the *guide-eye. |
| 1900 P. N. Hasluck Mod. Eng. Handy-bk. 59 The *guide-faces may be got up with a file. |
| 1901 P. Marshall Metal Working Tools 44 A rising and falling *guide-frame. 1936 Guide-frame [see all-welded adj. (all- III. 13)]. |
| 1900 Engineering Mag. XIX. 781/1 The *Guide-Framing of Gasholders. 1903 Brit. & Col. Printer 19 Nov. 12/2 The ends slide in parallel guide-grooves. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Guide Iron, a piece of iron rod,..which being put to the contour of a curved pattern pipe, becomes a guide by which the core maker strickles up its core without requiring a core-box. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 922 The oblong brush with *guide ledges is dipped into them [long, narrow colour-pans] across the whole of the parallel row at once. |
| 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §375 It is better..in making any saw-cut of considerable length, to mark the *guide-line on its surface with the line and reel. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1293 The *guide pieces connected with the axletrees. |
| 1791 R. Mylne 2nd Rep. Thames & Isis 11 At the upper End of it [the Pen], four *Guide Piles are wanting. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 428 The *guide pins are..driven into the beam. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 922 Paper-hangings.—Printing. Each block carries small pin points fixed at its corners to guide the workman in the insertion of the figure exactly in its place. An expert hand places these guide pins so that their marks are covered..by the impression of the next block. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., Ramps, or *Guide Plates,..clip the rails, and are provided with flat helical extensions against which the wagon wheels slide up to the rail. 1889 G. Findlay Eng. Railway 104 Cross pieces connecting the axle-box guide plates. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 501 The heckle bars..are..supported at their ends by fixed horizontal *guide rails, on which they slide. 1882 Ogilvie, Guide-rail, in railways, an additional rail placed midway between the two ordinary rails of the track, and employed in connection with devices on the engine or carriages to keep a train from leaving the track in curves, crossings, or steep gradients. |
| 1883 Century Mag. July 378/1 He rove the line through the *guide-rings [of a fishing-rod]. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1287 These..should slide freely on their *guide-rods. 1860 All Year Round No. 55. 103 Baskets that would rarely be dangerous if they were caged and supplied with proper guide-rods. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 425 The ‘Hercules’ [hammer], a ponderous mass of iron attached to a vertical guide rod. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 221 It [the endless felt] is led over a *guide roller. |
| 1759 Pullein in Phil. Trans. LI. 22 To change the position of the silk thread, that it might not always fall on the same part of the reel, the *guidestick was introduced. |
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 140 According to the two former *guid-texts of 2 Tim. 3. 16, & Rom. 15. 4. |
| 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 591 The frame of the cage has clips which extend upon each side of the *guide timbers. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 399 *Guide-wires for the threads to pass over. |
14. Special comb.:
guide-block, a ‘block’ or piece of metal which slides between or upon guides or guide-bars;
guide-board, a board erected at a fork in a road, for the direction of travellers;
guide card (see
quot. 1923);
guide coat (see
quot. 1953);
guide dog, a dog trained to lead the blind;
guide-feather = cock-feather (
Cent. Dict.);
guide fossil (see
quots.);
guide-law, (see
quot.);
guide letter (see
quot. 1960);
guide-line, (
a) a line used as a guide, a guiding line; also
fig.; (
b)
= guide-rope (c);
guide mill (see
quot. 1892);
guide number Photogr. (see
quot. 1962);
guide-pulley(
a)
Oval-turning, a pulley by means of which motion is communicated to the guide (sense 6 b); (
b) a pulley over which a band or cord is passed, where its course is altered or where it needs support;
guide-rope,
† (
a)
= guy n.1 2; (
b) a small rope attached to an object to be raised or lowered by a crane or pulley, in order to guide it; (
c)
Aeronautics, a long rope hung from a balloon or small airship so as to trail along the ground and to preserve altitude automatically by the drag of the rope without loss of ballast or gas; also, one of a number of ropes used to steady an airship before flight; hence
guide-rope v. intr., to use a guide-rope;
guide-screw, a screw-thread in a screw-cutting lathe which regulates the thread of the screw being cut;
guide seam Coal-mining (see
quot.);
guide stone, a stone set up by the wayside to direct travellers;
guide-tackle, a rope secured to the top of a pole, etc., to steady it;
guide vane Aeronaut. (see
quot. 1962);
guide-way, a groove, track, or ‘way’ along which a thing is moved or run in the required direction;
guide-wheel, a wheel used to guide a moving structure or vehicle.
| 1871 Colburn Locomotive Engin. v. 128/2 A pair of *guide blocks. 1881 Greener Gun 127 The breech-piece..is furnished with a guide-block on its upper surface, which works between the two lips of the shoe. |
| 1810 M. van H. Dwight Journey to Ohio 27 Oct. (1912) 13 Soon after we cross'd the mountain, we took a wrong road, owing to the neglect of those whose duty it is to erect *guide boards. 1872 Plumer Short Serm. 38 The guide went a little way to the one side and there he found one of the guide-boards, which were in the shape of a cross. 1895 Century Mag. Aug. 561/2 He came to a fork in the road where there was no guide-board. |
| 1923 H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery 35 *Guide cards, a segment of the card index and vertical filing system. Guide cards, or guiders, are stiff manilla cards, usually in distinctive colourings and provided with projecting tabs..and the purpose of the cards is to act as dividers, or indicators. 1969 R. L. Collison Indexes & Indexing (ed. 3) i. 27 In the case of 5 in. by 3 in. cards, suitably printed guide cards of this description can be purchased,..and there are also larger sets of guide cards which can break up the sequence into any number of parts. |
| 1930 Motor Body Building May 105/1 *Guide coat, the staining coat put on top of the filling as a guide to rubbing down. 1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xiii/1 The various stages.., therefore, are as follows:—First coat of primer, or foundation coat; first, second, third, and fourth coat of oil filler; guide coat for rubbing down; oil filler, [etc.]. 1953 Gloss. Paint Terms (B.S.I.) 8 Guide coat, a very thin coat of loosely bound paint applied over a continuous coating of surfacer or filler, prior to rubbing down... It serves as a guide to the operator in producing a smooth surface. |
| 1932 Proc. World Conference on Work for Blind 1931 183 (caption) *Guide dogs for the blind. 1944 D. Hartwell Dogs against Darkness 7 The modern guide dog provided by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is of the very greatest use. Ibid. 161 The majority of Guide Dogs in England are now types of British sheep⁓dogs. 1960 News Chron. 13 Jan. 5/6 Margaret Barber, 21, blind since she was six, was promised a guide dog. |
| 1867 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXIII. p. xlviii, The various divisions..were to be recognized in all countries by special *guide-fossils. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Guide-fossil, a fossil species regarded as specially characteristic of a given geological formation, horizon, or fauna. 1914 Schuchert & Barrell in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 4th Ser. XXXVIII. 6 In the chronologic correlation of the stratified rocks most dependence is put upon a few species, known as ‘guide fossils’, together with the collateral evidence of associated forms. These guide fossils may be represented by many or few individuals. 1957 Dunbar & Rodgers Princ. Stratigr. xvi. 279/1 A good guide fossil should have relatively wide geographic distribution and limited stratigraphic range. 1961 J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 97/1 Guide fossil, a species (or genus) or fossil useful as a guide to stratigraphical horizon or to the conditions under which the organism lived. |
| 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. v. (1628) 137 There remaines yet a tole called *Guid-law, which is paid for cattell at Bowdumbar, a Gate of the City so called, and was first granted for the payment of guides. |
| 1931 A. F. Johnson Decorative Initial Letters 6 Zainer's first outline initials were probably intended as *guide-letters for the rubricator. 1960 G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 162 Guide letters, small letters inserted in the otherwise blank space left for an illuminated, historiated, or rubricated capital to be executed by hand after a work had been printed: a feature of early printed books and still earlier manuscripts. |
| 1785 A. Ellicott in C. V. Mathews A. Ellicott (1908) 44 My Brother Joseph at Present runs the *guide Line for the choppers. 1846 Illustr. London News 30 May 356/1 The difficulty,..of getting a fulcrum..without which all attempts at steering an aëronaut machine must be failures, Mr. Green meets by the adoption of the guide-line, as he calls a rope about 1000 feet long. 1867 All Year Round XVIII. 452/1 In hauling in his guide-line, lest it should entangle itself with a factory chimney. 1881 Guide-line [see guide n. 13]. 1931 Times 27 Aug. 13/6 The coast..serves as a guide-line to their destinations. 1948 A. Toynbee Civilization on Trial 4 The national history of England itself as the principal guide⁓line. 1952 A. Grimble Pattern of Islands 161 Tekirei and Mautake first drew guide-lines on my arms with stretched strings, which they dipped in their tattooing dye. 1963 Listener 7 Mar. 404/2 Today, in an age of religious doubt, the moral guide-lines are less obvious than they were. 1964 I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 37 The past offers guidelines (not mandates) to the present and future. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 428 One of the guide pullies for the endless rope. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss. s.v. Mills, *Guide mills, the mills in which is finished small merchant iron. 1904 J. W. Hall in Harbord & Hall Metallurgy of Steel xvi. 311 The term ‘guide mill’ is reserved for mills in which the bar could not be properly entered with the workmen's tongs, and must have a guide to hold the bar on edge when it is being entered. |
| 1948 A. L. M. Sowerby Dict. Photogr. (ed. 17) 317 s.v. Flash bulbs, The figures given are *guide-numbers; by dividing these by the distance..between object and flash the stop to be used is given directly. 1959 L. A. Mannheim Successful Flash Photogr. 44 Guide numbers vary with film speed. 1962 M. L. Haselgrove Photographer's Dict. 120 Manufacturers of flash bulbs specify a guide number for each bulb to be used in conjunction with a given shutter speed and given film. This..simplifies the matter of determining what aperture to use to obtain the correct exposure for any given subject at a known distance from the flash bulb. |
| 1680 *Guide-pulley [see 6 b]. |
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P.C. 105 Gederen to þe *gyde ropes, þe grete cloþ falles. 1729 Desaguliers in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 195 A small Rope, call'd the Guide-Rope, is fasten'd to the Weight. 1838 M. Mason Aeronautica 23 An incident connected with the use of this guide-rope. 1848 Chambers's Jrnl. 6 May 301/2 Mr. Green as a substitute, uses a long rope, called the ‘guide-rope’. 1897 Strand Mag. XIII. 227/2 One rope (the guide-rope) is securely tied to this crow-bar, and then thrown on the cliff. 1903 Ibid. 27 June 476/2 A life-saving kite. The kite carries a guide-rope. 1904 Pall Mall Mag. XXXII. 20 One can guide-rope in the centre of Paris. 1905 Spectator 11 Mar. 371/1, I hopped over the trees of the Bois..and guide-roped down the Avenue des Champs Elysées to my door at the corner of the Rue Washington. 1928 Daily Express 12 Oct. 2/2 Four hundred sinewy fists released their hold on the guide-ropes that still leashed the mammoth [Zeppelin] to earth. |
| 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 73 A concave screw in the end of the mandrel, to which any variety of convex or *guide screws may then be alternately attached. 1863 Smiles Indust. Biog. 240 He made a turning-lathe with a sliding mandrill, and guide-screws, for cutting screws, furnished also with the means for correcting guide-screws. |
| 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 79 There are here no less than 117 seams..of coal..They are now recognised and mapped over the entire district by the aid of three or four *guide-seams of special character and persistence. |
| 1762 J. Hall-Stevenson Crazy Tales 41 Guides as blind as a *guide-stone. |
| 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 214 A Pair of Shears..having *Guide-Tackles, Blocks and Shivers. |
| 1941 Illustr. London News 28 June 827/1 (caption) At Langley Field, Virginia, U.S.A., where these powerful *guide-vanes direct the air in pressure wind-tunnels. 1962 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iv. 15 Guide vanes, a cascade of fixed vanes which guide the fluid stream round the bends in the passages of a wind tunnel. |
| 1876 J. S. Ingram Centenn. Exposition ix. 270 Both the upper and lower *guide-ways were adjustable for keeping the saw in line whenever required by the settling of floors. 1887 Sci. Amer. 9 July 18/2 The tool carriage..is adapted to slide on guideways on the main frame [of an automatic wood-turning lathe]. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 111 Thence it passes on to a guideway in the floor, which runs it off on to a measuring-stage. 1966 Electronics 14 Nov. 16 Seifert will analyze such problems as propulsion, guideway, communications and control. 1969 Times 16 Apr. 11/6 The dual mode vehicle..is driven normally at either end of its journey, but..automation takes over once it runs on the ‘automated guideway’. Ibid., The automated guideway system has been under study..for some 18 months. |
| 1840 Mag. Sci. 29 Aug. 173/2 Have it [sc. a tricycle] upon three wheels, the first of them a *guide wheel. 1847 Patent Jrnl. III. 471/1 The next feature is the provision of safety guide-wheels [on a locomotive engine]. 1885 Marine Engineer 1 July 91/2 The guide-wheel supports the ‘bag’ of the bucket chain. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 22 July 5/2 The pilot must be careful to hold the guide-wheel so as to maintain this position. |
▪ II. guide, v. (
gaɪd)
Forms: 4–5
gide, 4–6
gyd(e, (6
gid), 5–6
guyde, 4, 6–
guide.
[a. F. guide-r (recorded from 14th c.), an altered form (influenced by Pr. guidar or It. guidare) of the older guier, whence guy v.1 Cf. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To act as guide to; to go with or before for the purpose of leading the way: said of persons, of God, Providence, and of impersonal agents, such as stars, light, etc. Also
to guide the way (
cf. lead). Also
refl.| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1055 What maner wyndes gydeth yow now here. Ibid. v. 322 And god Mercurye of me now woful wrecche, The soule gide. c 1386 ― Clerk's T. 776 He on his wy is goon..In riche array this mayden for to gyde. a 1400–50 Alexander 5387 Nowe aires furth oure conquirour & candoile him gidis. c 1440 Generydes 116 And to this place he gidyd yow the weye. 1463 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 227 Item, govyn to Thomas Barkere ys brothyr, for gydyng the weye, iiij{supd}. 1502 in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1900) II. 151 Item, to the man that gydit the King quhen he passit to Dunbertane, ijs. 1535 Coverdale Luke i. 79 That he might geue light..to gyde oure fete in to the waye of peace. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 83 And twenty glow-wormes shall our Lanthornes bee To guide our Measure round about the Tree. 1610 ― Temp. v. i. 105 Some heauenly power guide vs Out of this fearefull Country. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 723 The gold in stone will runne as small as a pin or thread, and meeting with a hollow place, filleth it, and so guideth the Miner by thicke and thinne. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 20 The known rocks and shelves do as well guide the sea-men as the pole-star. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 595 How shall I tread..The dark descent, and who shall guide the way? 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, Till moon-light steals down..and chequers all the ground, and guides them to the bower. 1820 Shelley Cloud 22 Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion This pilot is guiding me. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 122 The slopes..and precipices, which were to guide us. 1865 M. C. Harris Christine iii, Moving cautiously upon the ice..he..lay down, guiding himself by his hands alone. 1868 Geo. Eliot Sp. Gipsy iv. 228 The stars will guide us back. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. i. 5 He Had guided Iliumward the ships of Greece. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere i. viii. 231 And refusing all help, she guided herself out of the room. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 28 God guided him to the ship. 1907 Smart Set Mar. 128 He guided himself cautiously with his left arm stretched out against the object of quest. |
b. To direct the course of (a vehicle, tool, physical action, etc.).
| c 1460 Henryson Test. Cresseid 205 As king, royall he raid upon his chair, The quhilk Phaeton gydit sum-tyme unricht. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 3 Ane schip..gydit..be sleuthfull marinaris and sleipand sterismen. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 75 Heauen guide thy pen to print thy sorrowes plaine. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 35 Lamech was blinde, and by the direction of Tubalcaine his sonne guiding his hand slew Caine. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. iii. 8 As water upon a plain Table is drawn which way any one part of it is guided by the finger. 1782 Cowper Expostulat. 437 Unless a zeal for virtue guide the blow. 1805 Southey Madoc ii. xxvii, Still with steady hand Guiding the death-blow on. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. 298 How strange that men Who guide the plough, should fail to guide the pen. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1284 A small hole..to receive and guide one thread. |
† c. To keep
from by guidance.
Obs.| c 1560 A. Scott Poems xxxvi. 57 Lord God, deliuer me, and gyd Frome schedding blude. |
d. Electr. To serve as a guide for (an electromagnetic wave); so
guided wave.
Cf. guide n. 11.
| 1893 O. Heaviside Electromagnetic Theory I. iv. 368 If we abolish the fictitious magnetic conductivity throughout the medium traversed by the waves we should, to have distortionless transmission, also abolish the electric conductivity. This is only to be attained by using wires of no resistance to guide the waves through a non-conducting medium. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 214/2 The use of conductors will now be seen partly. They serve to guide a wave along from place to place without loss, and with a limited amount of energy. 1925 A. M. Morse Radio: Beam & Broadcast iii. 66 [He] enunciated the theory that a ‘Heaviside Layer’ was unneccessary, since all radio waves were guided by the earth, which was the real conductor; just as was the wire, in guided-wave telephony or telegraphy. 1936 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. XV. 285 It is possible to reduce the size of the guiding structure for a given frequency by the use of a suitable dielectric. Ibid. 312 In the ordinary type of guided-wave systems..the guiding conductors form two sides of a circuit in which equal and opposite currents flow. 1947 [see guide n. 11]. 1962 Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagnetic Waves xii. 429 In the process of guiding electromagnetic waves conductors waste part of the wave energy in the form of Joule losses. This is because the guided waves always induce electric currents in the conductors. |
2. fig. and in immaterial senses: To lead or direct in a course of action, in the formation of opinions, etc.; to determine the course or direction of (events, etc.).
a. of persons or agents.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4425 Þus..ere ȝe..to þe way of wickidnes be warlaȝes gidid. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 37 Whil that grace Of God the guydyth thou mayst not mys. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 64 If he gouerne hym self euyll, by liklyhode right so wyl he guyde the. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20 Grace is the moost sure safeconducte to gyde man through the troubles of this worlde. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 652/1, I will..make myne eyes..my schoole-master, to guide my understanding to judge of your plott. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. x. §1 Being taught, led, and guided by his spirit. 1608 Shakes. Per. iii. ii. 111 Her relapse is mortal. Come, come; And æsculapius guide us! 1611 Bible John xvi. 13 The Spirit of trueth..wil guide you into all trueth. 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Prayer Ember Week, So guide and govern the minds of thy servants. a 1716 South Serm. (J.), Whosoever has a faithful friend to guide him in the dark passages of life. 1788 Sir W. Jones Charge Gr. Jury 4 Dec. Wks. 1799 III. 26 So as to..guide your judgement in finding or rejecting the several bills. 1898 T. Adamson Stud. Mind in Christ xi. 278 The Saviour guided events sympathetically. |
b. of indications, principles, motives, etc.
| a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. (1557) B iij, Amid the flame and armes ran I in preasse: As furie guided me. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. v. Wks. 1856 I. 103 Confusion and black murder guides The organs of my spirit. a 1695 Kettlewell (J.), When nothing but the interest of this world guides men. 1834 West Ind. Sketch Bk. II. 26 It is preposterous for him to be guided too rigidly by the recommendations of others. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby vi. ii, The fine taste which has guided the vast expenditure. 1848 R. I. Wilberforce Incarn. our Lord iv. (1852) 90 Our Lord's true perception of the real evils of man's nature..guided the general course of His sympathy. 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. v. 656 The Secretary of State..has been guided by the reports of the Board. |
c. refl. To conduct oneself or ‘get along’ (in a specified manner);
† to manage one's affairs (
obs.).
Cf. guy v.
1 3 b.
† Similarly,
to guide one's ways.
| 14.. Sir Beues 2974 (MS. M.) That in ffrenche couth hym selfe guyde. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 20 Preamble, The seid Edmond is not of sufficient discrecion to gyde himself and his lyvelode. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xx. 8 He rewlis weill, that weill him self can gyd. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxvii. 6 He gyded his wayes before the Lorde his God. [1759 Goldsm. Polite Learn. viii, For while so well able to direct others, how incapable is he frequently found of guiding himself!] 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxix, He..formed the resolution of guiding himself by the circumstances in which he might discover the object of his quest. 1874 J. W. Draper Hist. Conflict Relig. & Sci. 136 He guides himself by past as well as by present impressions. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Guide one's self, to behave well. |
† 3. a. To lead or command (an army, etc.).
Obs.| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 183 This Troilus as he was wont to gyde His yonge knyghtes ladde hem vp and doun. c 1450 Merlin 151 The thirde warde lede the kynge Boors of Gannes, that full wele cowde hem guyde. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 12 Unto the thyrde he gave such dygnyte, To guyde an army. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (an. 22) (1550) 54 b, The lefte wyng was guyded by the lorde Fitz Hewe. |
† b. To lead and tend (a flock).
Obs.| 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Pain 317 You that woulde nedis take in hande To guyde my flocke, as shepheardis shoulde, Only to possesse rent and land. 1611 Bible Ps. lxxviii. 52 [He] guided them in the wildernesse like a flocke. 1615 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 68 The stock of sheepe..to be fedd and guided winter and sommer. |
4. a. To conduct the affairs of (a household, state, etc.).
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 183 The people for to guide and lede, Which is the charge of his kinghede. 1535 Coverdale 1 Tim. v. 14, I wil therfore that the yonger wemen mary, beare children, gyde the house. 1540–41 Elyot Image Gov. 7 Moyses..was by almightie God chosen to guyde and rule his people. 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Pr. for all Conditions of Men, We pray for the good estate of the Catholick Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit that [etc.]. 1693 Dryden Ovid's Met. xv. Pythag. Philos. 1 A king is sought to guide the growing State. |
b. To manage (money or other property, a process, an affair). Also
absol. Now
Sc.| 1465 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. No. 529 II. 241 He is ryght ille plesyd that the mater was so gydyt. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xix. 28 Evill he gydes ȝone man trewlie; Lo! be his claithis it may be sene. 1514 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 92 To be masteris of thar artalery, and to gid and keipe thar powder and wayr quarteris. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1466 For a memory, Make indentures howe ye and I shal gyde. 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 151/2 Which affeccion whoso happeth to haue geuen him, is very fortunate, if he with grace & mekenes gyde it well. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 46 Being delivered from the care of house-keeping and of guiding his goods. 1637 Rutherford Lett. cclvi. (1894) 503 So that I have not the right art of guiding Christ; for there is art and wisdom required in guiding of Christ's love aright when we have gotten it. 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 63 Better guide well, as work sore. And indeed good Management will very much excuse hard Labour. 1781 Burns My Nanie, O vi, My riches a' 's my penny fee An' I maun guide it cannie. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvi, Them that sells the goods guide the purse—them that guide the purse rule the house. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. lix, I didn't believe she had one [a cook] that..knew how to guide a sheep's head and trotters. |
5. trans. To treat or use (a person) in a specified manner.
Sc. and
north. dial.| 1768 Ross Helenore (1789) 69 Our ain lads..guided them right cankerdly and snell. 1785 Forbes Dominie Deposed in Poems Buchan Dial. ii. 43 Had you been there to hear and see The manner how they guided me. 1822 Scott Nigel xxxv, There are few,..either of fools or of wise men, ken how to guide a woman. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Guide, to treat, to use. ‘Weel guided.’ ‘Badly guided.’ |