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help definition

Overview

This page has 20 definitions of help with English translations in 7 languages. Help is a noun, verb and interjection. Examples of how to use help in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: Help and HELP
For help with Wiktionary, see Help:Contents.

English help definition

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English help, from Old English help (“help, aid, assistance, relief”), from Proto-Germanic *helpō (“help”), *hilpiz, *hulpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälpe (“help”), West Frisian help (“help”), Dutch hulp (“help”), Low German Hülp (“help”), German Hilfe (“help, aid, assistance”), Danish hjælp (“help”), Swedish hjälp (“help”), Norwegian hjelp (“help”).

Noun

help (usually uncountable, plural helps)

  1. (uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
    I need some help with my homework.
  2. (usually uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
    He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
    I've printed out a list of math helps.
  3. Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.
    I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
  4. (usually uncountable) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
    The help is coming round this morning to clean.
    Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.
  5. (uncountable) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
    His suicide attempts were a cry for help.
    He really needs help in handling customer complaints.
    “He’s a real road-rager.” / “Yup, he really needs help, maybe anger management.”
Usage notes
  • The sense “people employed to help in the maintenance of a house” is usually an uncountable mass noun. A countable form — “a hired help”, “two hired helps” — is attested, but now less common. Helper could be used if no more specific noun is available.
Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:help.

Synonyms
Derived terms
 
Translations

Etymology 2

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 West Frisian helpe (“to help”), Dutch helpen (“to help”), Low German helpen, hölpen (“to help”), German helfen (“to help”), Danish hjælpe (“to help”), Norwegian hjelpe (“to help”), Lithuanian šelpti (“to help, support”).

Verb

help (third-person singular simple present helps, present participle helping, simple past helped or (archaic) holp, past participle helped or (archaic) holpen)

  1. (transitive) To provide assistance to (someone or something).
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      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.
    He helped his grandfather cook breakfast.
  2. (transitive) 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.
  3. (transitive) 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.
  4. (intransitive) To provide assistance.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess‎[1]:
      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.
    • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:
      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.
    She was struggling with the groceries, so I offered to help.
    Please, help!
  5. (transitive) 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.
    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!
    She never does more than she can help.
Usage notes
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from help (verb)
 
Translations

Interjection

help!

  1. A cry of distress or an urgent request for assistance
    — Take that, you scoundrel.
    — Help! Robin, help!
    (Robin Hood (1973))
Translations

Anagrams

Afrikaans help definition

Etymology

From Dutch helpen, from Middle Dutch helpen, from Old Dutch helpan, from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, from Proto-Germanic *helpaną.

Pronunciation

Verb

help (present help, present participle helpende, past participle gehelp)

  1. to help

Dutch help definition

Pronunciation

Verb

help

  1. first-person singular present indicative of helpen
  2. imperative of helpen

Esperanto help definition

Etymology

From the bare root of helpi, following the model of English help! considered as internationally understood.

Interjection

help

  1. Help! (as a cry of distress)

Old English help definition

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *helpu, from Proto-Germanic *helpō.

Pronunciation

Noun

help f

  1. help

Declension

Declension of help (strong ō-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative help helpa, helpe
accusative helpe helpa, helpe
genitive helpe helpa
dative helpe helpum

Descendants

References

Old Norse help definition

Verb

help

  1. first-person singular present indicative active of hjalpa

Welsh help definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English help.

Pronunciation

Noun

help m (uncountable, not mutable)

  1. help, aid
    Synonyms: cymorth, cynhorthwy

Derived terms

West Frisian help definition

Etymology

From Old Frisian helpe, from Proto-Germanic *helpō.

Pronunciation

Noun

help c (plural helpen, diminutive helpke)

  1. help, assistance, aid
    Synonyms: assistinsje, bystân

Further reading

  • “help (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yola help definition

Etymology

From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan, from Proto-West Germanic *helpan.

Verb

help

  1. to help
    • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6:
      He zide hea'de help mee udh o' hoan
      He said he'd help me out of hand

References

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 104
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