I. ˈhelp, ˈheu̇p, chiefly in southern US ˈhep verb
( helped -pt ; or now chiefly dialect holp ˈhō(l)p ; or holped -pt ; helped or now chiefly dialect holp or holped or hol·pen ˈhō(l)pən ; helping ; helps )
Etymology: Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan; akin to Old High German helfan to help, Old Norse hjalpa, Gothic hilpan, Lithuanian šelpti
transitive verb
1.
a. : to give assistance or support to : aid
agreed to help him with his biography — Ruth P. Randall
from the beginning she had helped and abetted him — Stuart Cloete
— often used interjectionally
Help! I'm drowning
b. : to assist in attaining
good pitching helped the team to the American league championship
2.
a. : remedy , cure , relieve
bright curtains help a drab room
aspirin helps a headache
humor often helps a tense situation
b. archaic : to rescue from harm or misfortune : save
help beer that beginneth to sour — Hugh Plat
help us from famine — Alfred Tennyson
c. : to get (oneself) out of a difficulty : extricate
sometimes I fought when I couldn't help myself — John Reed
3.
a. : to be of use to : benefit
a good speech should either amuse or help an audience
one-way sailing was helped by monsoons — Anne Dorrance
b. : to further the advancement of : promote
this dispute certainly did not help the negotiations — Theodore Hsi-En Chen
helping industrial development with two loans — Paul Bareau
4.
a. : to change for the better : mend
people get used to what they can't help quicker than they think they're going to — Mary Austin
b. : to keep oneself from : refrain from : avoid
neither of us could help laughing — Oscar Wilde
couldn't help seeing it was stuffed with newspaper clippings — James Hilton
c. : to keep from occurring : prevent
scolded him for something he couldn't help
d. : to be kept from : fail in
the campaign against industrial accidents cannot help producing results — F.D.Roosevelt
5.
a. : to dispense especially at a meal : serve
a loop of gold thread hung down from her sleeve as she helped the soup — Virginia Woolf
b. : to serve with food or drink especially at a meal — often used with to
helped his neighbor to the wine
helping himself … to a slice of beef — T.L.Peacock
6. : to appropriate for the use of (oneself)
the company had helped itself to a generous supply of bicycles — P.W.Thompson
intransitive verb
: to give aid or support : be of use : assist
to help rather than to blame — A.C.Benson
every little bit helps
— often used with a following infinitive
this principle may at least help to explain — A.O.Wolfers
Synonyms:
aid , assist : these three verbs are virtually interchangeable in meaning to furnish another person or thing with what is needed to fill an insufficiency or what is needed for the attainment of an end. help implies more frequently than the others, however, an advance toward an end
only money could help her through the worst of her ordeal — Marcia Davenport
help a team to win a game
will help to combat inflation
help a wounded soldier back to camp
aid often suggests the need of help or relief, often stressing weakness or insufficiency in the one aided and strength in the one aiding
his undergraduate work … was aided by tuition grants — Current Biography
a wide variety of literature … that will broaden their horizons and aid them to sound, democratic decisions — C.M.Wieting
to aid families in distress
assist usually stresses the secondary role of the one assisting or the subordinate character of the assistance
to assist visitors in finding places in hotels and auto courts — American Guide Series: Nevada
the president … is assisted by an 11-man cabinet — Americana Annual
Synonym: see in addition improve .
•
- cannot help but
- so help me
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German helfa, hilfa help, Old Norse hjalp help, Old English helpan to help
1.
a. : an act or instance of giving aid or support : assistance
offered his help in unloading the baggage
generous to all who needed help
making … decisions with the help of all significant facts — College & University Business
always tried to be of help
b. : the strength or resources employed in giving assistance
the help comprised food, clothing, and medicine — J.A.McVann
2.
a. : a useful adjunct : source of aid
printed helps to the memory — C.S.Braden
the singer is a help but he is not essential — Deems Taylor
b. : dealer help
3. : a possibility of preventing or curing : remedy
a situation for which there was no help
4.
a. : one who is in the pay or service of another:
(1) : assistant , ally
I could get you three or four rupees a month as my help — Attia S. Hosain
now if the help of Norfolk and myself … will but amount to five-and-twenty thousand — Shakespeare
(2) or plural help : a domestic worker or farmhand
I've … scrubbed the bathroom floor when the help has quit — Ethel Merman
hired help sat at table with the rest of the family — Sherwood Anderson
the two extra helps we always get in for the birthday — Ngaio Marsh
(3) plural help : an office or factory worker : employee
ran an ad in the help wanted column
one of the help in … government agencies — Antioch Review
b. : the services of a paid worker
they were without help again and she had all the work to do — Hamilton Basso
5. : helping