assist

verb, noun — 8 senses

assist

verb

/əˈsɪst/

Etymology From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister (“to assist, to attend”), from Latin assistō (“stand at, bestand”, verb).

1

To help.

  • This book will assist you in getting your life in order.
  • Tutor feedback assists the learning process.
1 more example
  • The referee seemed well placed to award the goal, but video evidence suggested the protests were well founded and the incident only strengthens the case of those lobbying for technology to assist officials.2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:
2

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To make a pass that leads directly towards scoring.

3

Medicine, Sciences To help compensate for what is missing with the help of a medical technique or therapy.

4

Archaic To stand (at a place) or to (an opinion).

  • A great part of the nobility assisted to his opinion.
5

Archaic To be present (at an event, occasion etc.).

  • I assisted with pleasure at the representation of several tragedies and comedies.1789, Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life, Penguin, published 1990, page 138:
  • To assist at Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.1967, The Rev. Loren Gavitt (ed.), Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church, revised edition, West Park, NY: Holy Cross Publications, p. 8
Synonyms
assist, chip in, help, help out, muck in, pitch in
Antonyms
hinder, hurt
Derived terms
assister, assistive, assistor, coassist, electroassisted, fan-assisted oven, medication-assisted treatment, nonassisted, overassist, photoassisted, unassisted
Related terms
assistant, assistance

assist

noun

Etymology From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister (“to assist, to attend”), from Latin assistō (“stand at, bestand”, verb).

1

A helpful action or an act of giving.

  • The foundation gave a much needed assist to the shelter.

› The act of helping another player score…

2

Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Soccer, Sports A decisive pass made to the goal scorer

  • Özil has 16 assists in the Premier League and three goals; he has two more goals in the Champions League. On Monday, he took Bournemouth apart in the 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium, setting up the first for Gabriel and scoring the second himself.2016 January 1, David Hytner, “Mesut Özil has Arsenal daring to dream of Premier League glory”, in The Guardian:
3

Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A defensive play, allowing a teammate to record a putout.

  • He had two assists in the game.
Derived terms
aim assist, assistful, assistless, gravitational assist, gravity assist, power assist, roadside assist, touch assist, video assist

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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