guide

guide vb Guide, lead, steer, pilot, engineer are comparable when meaning to direct a person or thing in his or its course or to show the way which he or it should follow.

Guide usually implies assistance either by means of a person with intimate knowledge of the course or way and of all its difficulties and dangers

{

some heavenly power guide us out of this fearful country— Shak.

}

{

how shall I tread ... the dark descent, and who shall guide the way?— Pope

}

{

men who guide the plough— Crabbe

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the teacher, the parent, or the friend can often do much ... to guide the pupil into an enjoyment of thinking— Eliot

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or by means of something (as a light, the stars, a principle, or a device on a machine) which prevents a person or thing from getting off course or going astray

{

the fine taste which has guided the vast expenditure— Disraeli

}

{

a vehement gloomy being, who had quitted the ways of vulgar men, without light to guide him on a better way— Hardy

}

Lead stresses the idea of going in advance to show the way and, often, to keep those that follow in order or under control

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a band led each division of the procession

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{

the flagship led the fleet

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he longed ... to lead his men on to victory— Marryat

}

{

this influence should rather lead than drive— Eliot

}

Often, especially in idiomatic phrases, lead implies the taking of the initiative, the giving of example, or the assumption of the role of leader, director, or guide

{

he . . . allured to brighter worlds, and led the way— Goldsmith

}

{

lead people astray by giving them a bad example

}

{

led the van in solving problems "susceptible of certain knowledge"— Sellery

}

Steer stresses the guidance by one able to control the mechanism which determines the course or direction (as of a boat, an automobile, an airplane); it carries a stronger implication of governing or maneuvering than any of the preceding terms

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steer a ship safely through a narrow channel

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{

fortune brings in some boats that are not steered— Shak.

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{

I eagerly desire to steer clear of metaphysics— Lowes

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secure in the faith that his reasoned intelligence will steer him correctly at all times— H. N. Macleany

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Pilot implies the assistance of a person competent to steer a vessel safely through unknown or difficult waters (as into or out of a port)

{

pilot a vessel through Ambrose Channel into New York harbor

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In its extended use it implies guidance over a course where one may easily lose one's way because of its intricacy or may run afoul of various obstacles or dangers

{

their room steward piloted them to the ship's dining room

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{

we know not where we go, or what sweet dream may pilot us through caverns strange and fair of far and pathless passion— Shelley

}

{

piloting important bills through the Senate— Current Biog.

}

Engineer means to lay out and manage the construction of some project (as a tunnel under a river, a highway, or a bridge)

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a firm of experts was called upon to engineer the irrigation project

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but in its more common extended sense it means to serve as a manager in carrying through something which requires contrivance and maneuvering

{

engineer a resolution through the House of Representatives

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{

engineer an elaborate fraud

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{

the corner in grain engineered by parties in Chicago— Gould

}

{

the coup d'état was engineered by high-ranking army officers

}

Analogous words: conduct, convoy, escort, chaperon, *accompany: direct, manage, control, *conduct

Antonyms: misguide

Contrasted words: distract, bewilder, perplex, mystify, *puzzle: mislead, delude, beguile, *deceive