help Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
    aid; assistance; assist.
    • he gave me an assist with the housework
    • could not walk without assistance
    • rescue party went to their aid
    • offered his help in unloading
  2. noun a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
    assistant; helper; supporter.
    • my invaluable assistant
    • they hired additional help to finish the work
  3. noun a resource
    aid; assistance.
    • visual aids in teaching
  4. noun a means of serving
    avail; service.
    • of no avail
    • there's no help for it
  5. verb give help or assistance; be of service
    aid; assist.
    • Everyone helped out during the earthquake
    • Can you help me carry this table?
    • She never helps around the house
  6. verb improve the condition of
    aid.
    • These pills will help the patient
  7. verb be of use
    facilitate.
    • This will help to prevent accidents
  8. verb abstain from doing; always used with a negative
    help oneself.
    • I can't help myself--I have to smoke
    • She could not help watching the sad spectacle
  9. verb help to some food; help with food or drink
    serve.
    • I served him three times, and after that he helped himself
  10. verb contribute to the furtherance of
    • This money will help the development of literacy in developing countries
  11. verb take or use
    avail.
    • She helped herself to some of the office supplies
  12. verb improve; change for the better
    • New slipcovers will help the old living room furniture

WordNet

Help transitive verb
Etymology
AS. helpan; akin to OS. helpan, D. helpen, G. helfen, OHG. helfan, Icel. hjalpa, Sw. hjelpa, Dan. hielpe, Goth. hilpan; cf. Lith. szelpti, and Skr. klp to be fitting.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Helped (obsolete imperfect Holp past participle Holpen ; present participle & verbal noun Helping
Definitions
  1. To furnish with strength or means for the successful performance of any action or the attainment of any object; to aid; to assist; as, to help a man in his work; to help one to remember; -- the following infinitive is commonly used without to; as, "Help me scale yon balcony." Longfellow.
  2. To furnish with the means of deliverance from trouble; as, to help one in distress; to help one out of prison. "God help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!" Shak.
  3. To furnish with relief, as in pain or disease; to be of avail against; -- sometimes with of before a word designating the pain or disease, and sometimes having such a word for the direct object. "To help him of his blindness." now, in is used for that function; -- "to help him in his misery" Shak.
    The true calamus helps coughs. Gerarde.
  4. To change for the better; to remedy.
    Cease to lament for what thou canst not help. Shak.
  5. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who can help it? Swift.
  6. To forbear; to avoid.
    I can not help remarking the resemblance betwixt him and our author. Pope.
    often used with "but"
  7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and passing food. Syn. -- To aid; assist; succor; relieve; serve; support; sustain; befriend. -- To Help, Aid, Assist. These words all agree in the idea of affording relief or support to a person under difficulties. Help turns attention especially to the source of relief. If I fall into a pit, I call for help; and he who helps me out does it by an act of his own. Aid turns attention to the other side, and supposes coöperation on the part of him who is relieved; as, he aided me in getting out of the pit; I got out by the aid of a ladder which he brought. Assist has a primary reference to relief afforded by a person who "stands by" in order to relieve. It denotes both help and aid. Thus, we say of a person who is weak, I assisted him upstairs, or, he mounted the stairs by my assistance. When help is used as a noun, it points less distinctively and exclusively to the source of relief, or, in other words, agrees more closely with aid. Thus we say, I got out of a pit by the help of my friend.
Help intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To lend aid or assistance; to contribute strength or means; to avail or be of use; to assist.
    A generous present helps to persuade, as well as an agreeable person. Garth.
Help noun
Etymology
AS. help; akin to D. hulp, G. hülfe, hilfe, Icel. hjalp, Sw. hjelp, Dan. hielp. See Help, v. t.
Definitions
  1. Strength or means furnished toward promoting an object, or deliverance from difficulty or distress; aid; ^; also, the person or thing furnishing the aid; as, he gave me a help of fifty dollars.
    Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. Ps. lx. 11.
    God is . . . a very present help in trouble. Ps. xlvi. 1.
    Virtue is a friend and a help to nature. South.
  2. Remedy; relief; as, there is no help for it.
  3. A helper; one hired to help another; also, thew hole force of hired helpers in any business.
  4. Specifically, a domestic servant, man or woman. Local, U. S.

Webster 1913