Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Help

Help

(hĕlp)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Helped
(hĕlpt)
(
Obs
.
imp.
Holp
(hōlp)
,
p. p.
Holpen
(hōl′p’n)
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Helping
.]
[AS.
helpan
; akin to OS.
helpan
, D.
helpen
, G.
helfen
, OHG.
helfan
, Icel.
hjālpa
, Sw.
hjelpa
, Dan.
hielpe
, Goth.
hilpan
; cf. Lith.
szelpti
, and Skr.
klp
to be fitting.]
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.”
Shak.
The true calamus
helps
coughs.
Gerarde.
4.
To change for the better; to remedy.
Cease to lament for what thou canst not
help
.
Shakespeare
5.
To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who can help it?
Swift.
6.
To forbear; to avoid.
7.
To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and passing food.
To help forward
,
to assist in advancing.
–
To help off
,
to help to go or pass away, as time; to assist in removing.
Locke.
–
To help on
,
to forward; to promote by aid.
–
To help out
,
to aid, as in delivering from a difficulty, or to aid in completing a design or task.

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

,
Verb.
I.
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.
To help out
,
to lend aid; to bring a supply.

Help

,
Noun.
[AS.
help
; akin to D.
hulp
, G.
hülfe
,
hilfe
, Icel.
hjālp
, Sw.
hjelp
, Dan.
hielp
. See
Help
,
Verb.
T.
]
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 1828 Edition

Help

HELP

,
Verb.
T.
A regular verb; the old past tense and participle holp and holpen being obsolete.
1.
To aid; to assist; to lend strength or means towards effecting a purpose; as, to help a man in his work; to help another in raising a building; to help one to pay his debts; to help the memory or the understanding.
2.
To assist; to succor; to lend means of deliverance; as, to help one in distress; to help one out of prison.
3.
To relieve; to cure, or to mitigate pain or disease.
Help and ease them, but by no means bemoan them.
The true calamus helps a cough.
Sometimes with of; as, to help one of blindness.
4.
To remedy; to change for the better.
Cease to lament for what thou cans't not help.
5.
To prevent; to hinder. The evil approached, and who can help it?
6.
To forbear; to avoid.
I cannot help remarking the resemblance between him and our author--
To help forward, to advance by assistance.
To help on, to forward; to promote by aid.
To help out, to aid in delivering from difficulty, or to aid in completing a design.
The god of learning and of light,
Would want a god himself to help him out.
To help over, to enable to surmount; as, to help one over a difficulty.
To help off, to remove by help; as, to help off time. [Unusual.]
To help to, to supply with; to furnish with.
Whom they would help to a kingdom. 1 Maccabees.
Also, to present to at table; as, to help one to a glass of wine.

HELP

,
Verb.
I.
To lend aid; to contribute strength or means.
A generous present helps to persuade, as well as an agreeable person.
To help out, to lend aid; to bring a supply.

HELP

,
Noun.
Aid; assistance; strength or means furnished towards promoting an object, or deliverance from difficulty or distress.
Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man. Ps.60.
1.
That which gives assistance; he or that which contributes to advance a purpose.
Virtue is a friend and a help to nature.
God is a very present help in time of trouble. Ps.46.
2.
Remedy; relief. The evil is done; there is no help for it. There is no help for the man; his disease is incurable.
3.
A hired man or woman; a servant.

Definition 2024

help

help

For help with Wiktionary, see Help:Contents.

English

Noun

help ‎(usually uncountable, plural helps)

  1. (uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
    I need some help with my homework.
  2. (usually uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
    He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
    I've printed out a list of math helps.
  3. Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.
    I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
  4. (usually uncountable) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
    The help is coming round this morning to clean.
    Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.
  5. (uncountable, euphemistic) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
    His suicide attempts were a cry for help.
    He really needs help in handling customer complaints.
    "He's a real road-rager." / "Yup, he really needs help, maybe anger management."
Usage notes
  • The sense "people employed to help in the maintenance of a house" is usually an uncountable mass noun. A countable form - "a hired help", "two hired helps" - is attested, but now less common.
Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see Citations:help.

Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan ‎(“to help, aid, assist, benefit, relieve, cure”), from Proto-Germanic *helpaną ‎(“to help”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- ‎(“to help”). Cognate with West Frisian helpe ‎(“to help”), Dutch helpen ‎(“to help”), Low German hölpen ‎(“to help”), German helfen ‎(“to help”), Danish hjælpe ‎(“to help”), Norwegian hjelpe ‎(“to help”), Lithuanian šelpti ‎(“to help, support”).

Verb

help ‎(third-person singular simple present helps, present participle helping, simple past helped or (archaic) holp, past participle helped or (archaic) holpen)

  1. (transitive) To provide assistance to (someone or something).
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      Risk is everywhere. […] For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles” […] aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.
    He helped his grandfather cook breakfast.‎
  2. (transitive) To contribute in some way to.
    The white paint on the walls helps make the room look brighter.‎
    If you want to get a job, it helps to have some prior experience.‎
  3. (intransitive) To provide assistance.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:
      As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.
    • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:
      Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
    She was struggling with the groceries, so I offered to help.‎
    Please, help!‎
  4. (transitive) To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.
    We couldn’t help noticing that you were late.‎
    We couldn’t help but notice that you were late.‎
    She’s trying not to smile, but she can’t help herself.‎
    Can I help it if I'm so beautiful?‎
    Can I help it that I fell in love with you?‎
    Are they going to beat us? Not if I can help it!‎
Usage notes
  • Use 3 is often used in the imperative mood as a call for assistance.
  • In uses 1, 2 and 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. It can also take the bare infinitive with no change in meaning.
  • In use 4, can't help is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) or, with but, the bare infinitive.
  • For more information, see Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Interjection

help!

  1. A cry of distress or an urgent request for assistance
Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: whether · city · held · #341: help · number · alone · body

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch helpen.

Verb

help ‎(present help, present participle helpende, past participle gehelp)

  1. to help

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛlp

Verb

help

  1. first-person singular present indicative of helpen
  2. imperative of helpen

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *helpō.

Noun

help f

  1. help

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowing from English help.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /hɛlp/

Noun

help m

  1. help, aid

Synonyms


Etymology

From Middle English help, from Old English help ‎(“help, aid, assistance, relief”), from Proto-Germanic *helpō ‎(“help”), *hilpiz, *hulpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- ‎(“to help”). Cognate with West Frisian help ‎(“help”), Dutch hulp ‎(“help”), Low German Hülp ‎(“help”), Swedish hjälp ‎(“help”), German Hilfe ‎(“help, aid, assistance”), Danish hjælp ‎(“help”), Norwegian hjelp ‎(“help”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hĕlp, IPA(key): /hɛlp/

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