Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
1.
to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.
2.
to save; rescue; succor: Help me, I'm falling!
3.
to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate: The exercise of restraint is certain to help the achievement of peace.
4.
to be useful or profitable to: Her quick mind helped her career.
5.
EXPANDto refrain from; avoid (usually preceded by can or cannot): He can't help doing it.
6.
to relieve or break the uniformity of: Small patches of bright color can help an otherwise dull interior.
7.
to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.
9.
to serve food to at table (usually followed by to): Help her to salad.
10.
COLLAPSEto serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.
verb (used without object)
11.
to give aid; be of service or advantage: Every little bit helps.
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Help to
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
noun
12.
the act of helping; aid or assistance; relief or succor.
13.
a person or thing that helps: She certainly is a help in an emergency.
14.
a hired helper; employee.
15.
a body of such helpers.
16.
EXPANDa domestic servant or a farm laborer.
interjection
Verb phrase19.
(used as an exclamation to call for assistance or to attract attention.)
20.
Idiomshelp out, to assist in an effort; be of aid to: Her relatives helped out when she became ill.
21.
cannot/can't help but, to be unable to refrain from or avoid; be obliged to: Still, you can't help but admire her.
22.
help oneself to,
a.
to serve oneself; take a portion of: Help yourself to the cake.
b.
to take or use without asking permission; appropriate: They helped themselves to the farmer's apples. Help yourself to any of the books we're giving away.
23.
so help me, (used as a mild form of the oath “so help me God”) I am speaking the truth; on my honor: That's exactly what happened, so help me.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen
before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen
Related forms
help·a·ble, adjective
un·der·help, noun
un·help·a·ble, adjective
un·helped, adjective
well-helped, adjective
Synonyms
1. encourage, befriend; support, second, uphold, back, abet. Help, aid, assist, succor agree in the idea of furnishing another with something needed, especially when the need comes at a particular time. Help implies furnishing anything that furthers one's efforts or relieves one's wants or necessities. Aid and assist, somewhat more formal, imply especially a furthering or seconding of another's efforts. Aid implies a more active helping; assist implies less need and less help. To succor, still more formal and literary, is to give timely help and relief in difficulty or distress: Succor him in his hour of need. 3. further, promote, foster. 6. ameliorate. 7. alleviate, cure, heal. 12. support, backing.
1. encourage, befriend; support, second, uphold, back, abet. Help, aid, assist, succor agree in the idea of furnishing another with something needed, especially when the need comes at a particular time. Help implies furnishing anything that furthers one's efforts or relieves one's wants or necessities. Aid and assist, somewhat more formal, imply especially a furthering or seconding of another's efforts. Aid implies a more active helping; assist implies less need and less help. To succor, still more formal and literary, is to give timely help and relief in difficulty or distress: Succor him in his hour of need. 3. further, promote, foster. 6. ameliorate. 7. alleviate, cure, heal. 12. support, backing.
Antonyms
3, 11. hinder. 7. afflict. 13. hindrance.
3, 11. hinder. 7. afflict. 13. hindrance.
Usage note
21. Help but, in sentences like She's so clever you can't help but admire her, has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot help admiring her, but the idiom is common in all kinds of speech and writing and can only be characterized as standard.
21. Help but, in sentences like She's so clever you can't help but admire her, has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot help admiring her, but the idiom is common in all kinds of speech and writing and can only be characterized as standard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To help to
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
help
O.E. helpan (class III strong verb; past tense healp, pp. holpen), from P.Gmc. *khelpanan (cf. O.N. hjalpa, O.Fris. helpa, Du. helpen, Ger. helfen), from PIE base *kelb-/*kelp- "to help" (cf. Lith. selpiu "to support, help"). Sense of "serve someone with food at table" (1688) is translated from Fr. servir
EXPAND"to help, stead, avail," and led to helping "portion of food" (1824). Use of help as euphemism for "servant" is Amer.Eng., 1645, tied up in notions of class and race.
COLLAPSE
"A domestic servant of American birth, and without negro blood in his or her veins ... is not a servant, but a 'help.' 'Help wanted,' is the common heading of advertisements in the North, when servants are required." [Chas. Mackay, "Life and Liberty in America," 1859].The M.E. pp. holpen survives in biblical and U.S. dial. use.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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