Meaning & use
guiser
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Meanings
nouncountableScottish
A person in disguise or costume who goes from house to house, especially children at Halloween, performing something in exchange for treats.
Grammar: Countable: several guisers came to the door.
Patterns
- a guiser at the door
A little guiser dressed as a ghost sang a song at our door.
The guisers collected sweets and coins after reciting their poems.
Every Halloween, my gran waits at the door for the guisers.
nouncountableScottishspecialist
A person who takes part in a traditional costumed festival, such as the Shetland fire festival, Up Helly Aa.
Grammar: Often appears as guiser in the names of festival squads.
Patterns
- a guiser in a festival
The guisers marched through Lerwick carrying torches.
Each squad of guisers wore a different elaborate costume.
Word forms
| plural | guisers |
|---|
Common combinations
- Halloween guiser
- The Halloween guiser told a joke before getting a treat.
- guisers at the door
- We heard guisers at the door.
- a group of guisers
- A group of guisers dressed as witches arrived.
- Up Helly Aa guisers
- Up Helly Aa guisers dress as Vikings.
- guiser's costume
- The guiser's costume was homemade.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trick-or-treater
- A trick-or-treater is the American term for a child going door to door, who usually just asks for candy, while a guiser must perform something.
- mummer
- A mummer performs in traditional folk plays in costume, an older English custom related to guising.
- masquerader
- A masquerader wears a mask at a ball or carnival, which is more formal and less tied to door-to-door visits.
- reveller
- A reveller is anyone celebrating loudly, and need not wear a costume.
Word family
Commonly confused: guiser or geyser?
guiser vs geyser
Geyser is a hot spring that shoots water into the air and in American English it sounds the same as guiser.
Practice
In Scotland, children called ___ visit neighbors at Halloween and perform a song or joke.
Choose one answer.
Guisers are costumed children who perform for treats. Geysers are hot springs, guides lead people, and grocers sell food.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “guiser”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.