help
verbEtymology
From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan (“to help, aid, assist, benefit, relieve, cure”), from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, Proto-Germanic *helpaną (“to help”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”). Cognate with North Frisian halep, heelpe, help (“to help”), Saterland Frisian hälpe (“to help”), West Frisian helpe (“to help”), Cimbrian hölfan (“to help”), Dutch helpen (“to help”), German helfen (“to help”), Low German helpen, hölpen, hülpen (“to help”), Luxembourgish hëllefen (“to help”), Yiddish העלפֿן (helfn, “to help”), Danish hjælpe (“to help”), Faroese and Icelandic hjálpa (“to help”), Norwegian Bokmål hjelpe (“to help”), Norwegian Nynorsk hjelpa, hjelpe (“to help”), Swedish hjälpa (“to help”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐍀𐌰𐌽 (hilpan, “to help”), Lithuanian šelpti (“to help, support”).
7 senses
- 1To provide assistance to (someone or something).
- 2To assist (a person) in getting something, especially…
- 3To contribute in some way to.
- 4To provide assistance.
- 5To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain…
- 6To do something on the behalf of someone.
- 7To assist or sympathize with (the speaker); used to…
To provide assistance to (someone or something).
- He helped his grandfather cook breakfast.
- 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.2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
To assist (a person) in getting something, especially food or drink at table; used with to.
- It is polite to help your guests to food before serving yourself.
- Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge.
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.
1 more example
- I've already taken three pills, but they don't seem to help my headache.
To provide assistance.
- She was struggling with the groceries, so I offered to help.
- Please, help!
2 more examples
- 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.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- 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.2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
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.
4 more examples
- 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!
Singapore, Singlish, Imperative To assist or sympathize with (the speaker); used to express displeasure, disappointment or exasperation.
- Compare Malay tolong (“help; please”) and Hokkien 導郎 /导郎 (tō͘-lông, “help; please”)
- Help lah.
- Synonyms
- aid, assist, come to the aid of, help out, contribute to, abet, befriend, bestead, come to someone's aid, give someone a hand, grip, help, lend a hand, lend a helping hand, mend, stead, succor, succour, support, sustain, relieve
- Derived terms
- a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, behelp, cannot help, can't help, can't help but, heaven help someone, helpability, helpable, help a lame dog over a stile, helpee, helper, helping, helping hand, helpingly, helping profession, helping verb, help oneself, help out, may I help you, overhelp, so help my tater, unhelp, unhelping
- Related terms
- serve
- Hyponyms
- bootstrap