Etimology
Coined by semantic widening from the name of Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), an English Catholic executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, from Old French Gui, a form of Proto-Germanic *Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element witu "wood" from Proto-Germanic *widuz, such as Witold and Widukind. Cognate with Italian Guido.
noun
guy (plural guys)
(British) An effigy of a man burned on a bonfire on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot (5th November).
(dated) A person of eccentric appearance or dress; a "fright".
(colloquial) A man or boy, fellow.
(especially in the plural) A person (see usage notes).
(colloquial, usually referring to animals) Character, personality (not referring to an actual person, but assigning personality to the referent)
(informal, term of address) Buster, Mack, fella, bud, man.
(colloquial) Thing, item (term that can be used to refer to any entity)
Examples
“But shan’t I look a guy?”“Not a bit of it. Jist the very kick!”
I am always a perfect guy, whatever I wear, when I sit against a red curtain. You mean say that a woman always knows when she’s good-looking, but I am happy to say I know when I look a guy.
And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy,And who “doesn’t think she dances, but would rather like to try” […].
Why are you so ashamed that her child saw you looking a guy, sprawled on the floor, spilling cakes?
Synonyms: dude, fella, homey, bro, bloke, chap; see also Thesaurus:man
Coordinate terms: gal, broad, dame, girl, jane, woman, bird, chick
“You don't say so? I thought he was some guy from Pennsylvania.”
"Hi, guys. Did you have a fun time at school?" said Katherine."Yeah we did," said Stacy.
She was one of the guys, but they were also very much aware that she was an attractive young woman.
Let’s be honest. “Have I kissed too many guys?” is not a question that mature, sexually active women are likely to be asking Google.
My “Guys” actually constitute a collection of people that range from my nearest and dearest girlfriends, my immediate and extended family, co-workers and acquaintances that care.
My “guys,” as I call the group, are loving and hilarious, serious and the epitome of love. They are both male and female in their presence and have never had the experience of inhabiting a physical body—they are beings of light.
The dog's left foreleg was broken, poor little guy.
I just want to play with my guys. My guys are my friends, they're stuffed animals or little action figures I have a lot of them.
Hey, guy, give a man a break, would ya?
This guy, here, controls the current, and this guy, here, measures the voltage.
This guy is the partial derivative of that guy with respect to x.
verb
guy (third-person singular simple present guys, present participle guying, simple past and past participle guyed)
(intransitive) To exhibit an effigy of Guy Fawkes around the 5th November.
(transitive) To make fun of, to ridicule with wit or innuendo.
(theater, transitive) To play in a comedic manner.
Examples
The dusky hunters "guyed" the palefaces who could not do as well as they with their primitive weapons, even though the fire spouted from the iron tubes and the balls that could not be seen by the eye carried death farther than did the missiles launched by the natives.
Swift and other satirists mercilessly guyed the unlettered self-importance of the peddlars of such soul-food, exposing their humility and self-laceration as an egregious and obnoxious form of self-advertisement .
Terry Kilmartin [...], applauded for every ‘um’ and ‘ah’, knew that he was being guyed and had the charm to make it funny.
To guy the speech in the manner of an old-fashioned 'ham' for cheap laughs....
Etimology
From Old French guie, linked to verb guier (“guide”), from Frankish *wītan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“know”). Cognate with English guide.
noun
guy (plural guys or (nonstandard) guies)
(obsolete, rare) A guide; a leader or conductor.
(chiefly nautical) A support rope or cable used to aid in hoisting or lowering.
(chiefly nautical) A support to secure or steady structures prone to shift their position or be carried away (e.g. the mast of a ship or a suspension bridge).
Related words
holonyms
(nautical): cordage
verb
guy (third-person singular simple present guys, present participle guying, simple past and past participle guyed)
To equip with a support cable.