Link Centre Dictionary

help

UK/hɛo̯p] ~ [hɛʊ̯p/ US/hɛlp/ very common
verb (8) noun (4)

verb

1.

give help or assistance; be of service

  • “Everyone helped out during the earthquake”
  • “Can you help me carry this table?”
  • “She never helps around the house”
Synonyms
2.

be of use

  • “This will help to prevent accidents”
Synonyms
3.

improve the condition of

  • “These pills will help the patient”
Synonyms
4.

abstain from doing; always used with a negative

  • “I can”
  • “;”
Synonyms
5.

contribute to the furtherance of

  • “This money will help the development of literacy in developing countries”
6.

improve; change for the better

  • “New slipcovers will help the old living room furniture”
7.

help to some food; help with food or drink

  • “I served him three times, and after that he helped himself”
Synonyms
8.

take or use

  • “She helped herself to some of the office supplies”
Synonyms

noun

1.

the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose

  • “he gave me an assist with the housework”
  • “could not walk without assistance”
  • “rescue party went to their aid”
  • “offered his help in unloading”
Synonyms
2.

a resource

  • “visual aids in teaching”
  • “economic assistance to depressed areas”
Synonyms
3.

a means of serving

  • “of no avail”
  • “there”
Synonyms
4.

a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose

  • “my invaluable assistant”
  • “they hired additional help to finish the work”
Synonyms

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • call for help
  • cry for help
  • help desk
  • help vampire
  • home help
  • temporary help

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.