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View synonyms for

help

[ help ]

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.

    Synonyms: , , , , , ,

  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.

    Synonyms: , ,

    Antonyms:

  4. to be useful or profitable to:

    Her quick mind helped her career.

  5. to 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.

    Synonyms:

  7. to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.

    Synonyms: , ,

    Antonyms:

  8. to remedy, stop, or prevent:

    Nothing will help my headache.

  9. to serve food to at table (usually followed by to ):

    Help her to salad.

  10. to serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.

verb (used without object)

  1. to give aid; be of service or advantage:

    Every little bit helps.

    Antonyms:

noun

  1. the act of helping; aid or assistance; relief or succor.

    Synonyms: ,

  2. a person or thing that helps:

    She certainly is a help in an emergency.

    Antonyms:

  3. a hired helper; employee.
  4. a body of such helpers.
  5. a domestic servant or a farm laborer.
  6. means of remedying, stopping, or preventing:

    The thing is done, and there is no help for it now.

  7. Older Use. helping ( def 2 ).

interjection

  1. (used as an exclamation to call for assistance or to attract attention.)

verb phrase

  1. to assist in an effort; be of aid to:

    Her relatives helped out when she became ill.

help

/ ɛ /

verb

  1. to assist or aid (someone to do something), esp by sharing the work, cost, or burden of something

    she helped him climb out of the boat

    he helped his friend to escape

  2. to alleviate the burden of (someone else) by giving assistance
  3. tr to assist (a person) to go in a specified direction

    help the old lady up from the chair

  4. to promote or contribute to

    to help the relief operations

  5. to cause improvement in (a situation, person, etc)

    crying won't help

  6. tr; preceded by can, could, etc; usually used with a negative
    1. to avoid or refrain from

      we can't help wondering who he is

    2. usually foll by it to prevent or be responsible for

      I can't help it if it rains

  7. to alleviate (an illness, etc)
  8. tr to serve (a customer)

    can I help you, madam?

  9. trfoll byto
    1. to serve (someone with food, etc) (usually in the phrase help oneself )

      help yourself to peas

      may I help you to some more vegetables?

    2. to provide (oneself with) without permission

      he's been helping himself to money out of the petty cash

  10. cannot help but
    to be unable to do anything else except

    I cannot help but laugh

  11. help a person off with
    to assist a person in the removal of (clothes)
  12. help a person on with
    to assist a person in the putting on of (clothes)
  13. so help me
    1. on my honour
    2. no matter what

      so help me, I'll get revenge

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act of helping, or being helped, or a person or thing that helps

    she's a great help

  2. a helping
    1. a person hired for a job; employee, esp a farm worker or domestic servant
    2. functioning as singular several employees collectively
  4. a means of remedy

    there's no help for it

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

interjection

  1. used to ask for assistance
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage Note

Cannot/can't help but has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot/can’t help followed by the present participle: You can’t help but admire her. You can’t help admiring her. However, the idiom Cannot/can't help but is so common in all types of speech and writing that it must be characterized as standard.
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Derived Forms

  • ˈ貹, adjective
  • ˈ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • a· adjective
  • ܲd· noun
  • un·a· adjective
  • ܲ· adjective
  • ɱ- adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of help1

First recorded before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen
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Word History and Origins

Origin of help1

Old English helpan; related to Old Norse hjalpa, Gothic hilpan, Old High German helfan
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. cannot / can't help but, to be unable to refrain from or avoid; be obliged to:

    Still, you can't help but admire her.

  2. help oneself to,
    1. to serve oneself; take a portion of:

      Help yourself to the cake.

    2. 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.

  3. 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.

More idioms and phrases containing help

  • can't help but
  • every little bit helps
  • not if one can help it
  • so help me
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Synonym Study

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.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The rules were aimed at reducing any light which could help Germany bombers find their targets.

From

A judge in Wisconsin has been arrested by US federal authorities after allegedly trying to help an undocumented immigrant who appeared in her court avoid arrest.

From

Two wildlife charities are recruiting volunteers to help spot glow-in-the-dark caterpillars at night using ultraviolet lights.

From

Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, said the £2 levy would help Liverpool attract bigger events which, in turn, would bring more visitors and money to the city.

From

"Near that Queen of Peace, to whom I have always turned for help and whose embrace I have sought more than a hundred times during my pontificate," he explained in his will.

From

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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