[self-help, self-] 
| 1. | the act of providing for or helping or the ability to provide for or help oneself without assistance from others. |
| 2. | Law. the act or right of remedying a wrong, without resorting to legal proceedings. |
| 3. | the acquiring of information or the solving of one's problems, esp. those of a psychological nature, without the direct supervision of professionals or experts, as by independent reading or by joining or forming lay groups that are devoted to one's interests or goals. |
| 4. | of or pertaining to a book, article, home study course, or the like, offering an individual information or counseling intended to be personally beneficial or profitable: self-help books on overcoming shyness. |
| self-help (sělf'hělp') n. The act or an instance of helping or improving oneself without assistance from others. |