guy n.2
1. (US) a man or boy; thus main guy under main adj.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | ‘Cad’s Calendar’ in Punch Almanack n.p.: Fan jest passed me, turned away ’er eyes, / Guess she ranked me with the other guys. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Artie 3: You guys must think I’m a quitter. | |
| John Henry 9: A guy can buy a couple of cosy-corners in a dead swell theatre for fifty cents a coze. | |
| Doughboy Dope 41: Guys who otherwise only regard the matter tentatively have to take a shave. | |
| Black Gang 477: He’s dead. This guy threw him on the live wires. | |
| (con. 1910s) Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 68: The guys all chipped in to buy lunch. | |
| Really the Blues 12: Three guys who commanded a lot of respect in the prison. | |
| One Lonely Night 15: What kind of a guy am I, kitten? | |
| Last Exit to Brooklyn 136: He had had more than one book pulled, for no reason at all, from more than one guy. | |
| (con. 1960s) ‘Big Playground’ in Antaeus Aut. 38: ‘I gota see dis guy’. | |
| (con. 1960s) Wanderers 6: I gotta see this guy. | |
| ‘Cockney Translation’ 🎵 Cockney say blokes. We say guys. | |
| Pulp Fiction [film script] 13: Sent a couple of guys over to his place. | |
| Observer Mag. 27 Feb. 23: I kicked the shit out of this guy. |
2. a general term of address, repopularized in 1970s+ among young UK blacks, and now in general teen use.
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | in (1999) 59: The Yank: ‘Say Guy, how far to battle?’. | |
| Dict. Amer. Sl. | |
 | King Kong 72: [W]hen a bigger man offered to take them, he drew back jealously. ‘Not much, guy! I lugged them before. I can lug ‘em now’. | |
| Over the Wall 326: I’m giving you the straight dope, guy. | |
| Amboy Dukes 62: We have to hurry, guy, because I’m hungry. | |
| ‘Dig that Crazy Corpse’ in Pursuit Mar. (2008) 156: Look me up some time, guy. | |
| Blue Movie (1974) 29: ‘Hi, guys,’ he said in the sepulchral tones of the New York stage. | |
| Curvy Lovebox 175: It’s really got be two minutes guy. | |
| You Got Nothing Coming 319: No problem, guy, I got a few things to take care of myself. |
3. (US) a woman.
| London Life 24: But here’s another – guy! as the rude boys would say – a lady, but by no means young. | |
| letter in Canteening Overseas (1920) 125: Alice and I won’t have to leave the Division [...] Aren’t we the lucky guys? | |
| Female Convict (1960) 138: There are some mighty hard-boiled guys here now. | |
| ‘Cut Down the Trees’ Wartime Stories (1999) 148: ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘yeah, Queen Mary. She’s another grand old guy.’. | |
| Kingsblood Royal (2001) 235: You know, you’re a good guy, lady. | |
| Foxes (1980) 11: Well, do something, you guys. | |
| Point of Origin (1999) 190: Is there any reason Carrie might know where you guys live? |
4. a boyfriend, a lover.
| ‘Observation Post’ in N.Y. Age 9 Nov. 10/4: Edith Brooks claims that Freddie Marshall is her ‘guy’...but that ain’t the way I heard it. | |
| Howard Street 43: So you my guy’s brother, huh? |
5. a person, irrespective of gender.
| Fantastic Four Annual 34: Sorry, guys. I guess I blew it. | |
| Sweetwater Gunslinger 201 (1990) 170: I love you Mom. You guys [parents] are great! | |
| (con. 1986) Sweet Forever 38: Maybe you guys can still make the show. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 82/1: guys, the n pl. one’s fellow gang members or associates (cf. boys, the). |
6. (US) an object, a thing.
| Guys Like Us 90: Here [...] have one of these tasty guys [i.e. a pastry]. | |
| advert for M & M’s Good Morning [CBS-TV] I love these guys [HDAS]. |
7. (US campus) in ironic reversal, an incompetent, an inadequate.
| Sl. U. 98: John is such a guy — just look at that calculator in his shirt pocket. |
8. (US) constr. with the, the man in charge.
| Loose Balls 244: The first thing he [Isaac Hayes] said was, ‘I don’t want to do anything unless I’m the major stockholder.’ Hey, that was no problem. If Hayes had the money, he could be the guy’. |