aid
verb (used with object)
to provide support for or relief to; help.
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aid
1 American
[eyd]
/ eɪd /
verb (used with object)
-
aids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aided,
past participle, past
-
aiding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
aids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aided,
past participle, past
-
aiding
present participle
noun
-
aids
plural
-
help or support; assistance.
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a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.
-
Manège. aids,
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Also called natural aids. the means by which a rider communicates with and controls a horse, as the hands, legs, voice, and shifts in weight.
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Also called artificial aids. the devices used by a rider to increase control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.
-
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a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.
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English History. (after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions.
AID
2
American
[eyd]
/ eɪd /
noun
U.S. Government.
AID
3
American
abbreviation
-
American Institute of Decorators.
-
American Institute of Interior Designers.
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British. artificial insemination donor. Also A.I.D.
aid
1
British
/ eɪd /
verb
-
to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist
-
(tr) to assist financially
noun
-
assistance; help; support
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a person, device, etc, that helps or assists
a teaching aid
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Also: artificial aid. mountaineering any of various devices such as piton or nut when used as a direct help in the ascent
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(in medieval Europe; in England after 1066) a feudal payment made to the king or any lord by his vassals, usually on certain occasions such as the marriage of a daughter or the knighting of an eldest son
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informal in support of; for the purpose of
AID
2
British
abbreviation
-
acute infectious disease
-
artificial insemination (by) donor: former name for Donor Insemination (DI)
Aid
3
British
combining form
Commonly Confused
Although the nouns aid and aide both have among their meanings “an assisting person,” the spelling aide is increasingly used for the sense “helper, assistant”: One of the senator's aides is calling. Aide in military use is short for aide-de-camp. It is also the spelling in nurse's aide.
Synonym Usage
See help.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
aidsimple
-
aidssimple
-
have aidedperfect
-
has aidedperfect
-
am aidingprogressive
-
are aidingprogressive
-
is aidingprogressive
-
have been aidingperfect progressive
-
has been aidingperfect progressive
Past
-
aidedsimple
-
had aidedperfect
-
was aidingprogressive
-
were aidingprogressive
-
had been aidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of aid1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English noun aide, eide, from Anglo-French, Old French aide, derivative of verb aid(i)er, from Latin adjūtāre “to help”; see also adjuvant ( def. )
Origin of AID2
A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)
Explanation
Aid is what you do when you help someone — you come to their aid. Rich countries provide economic aid to poor countries, and if you cut your hand, you'll be looking in the first aid kit for a Band-Aid. You can also use aid as a verb: "The librarian will aid you in your search." English has some words with meanings related to aid, but they're spelled with an -e on the end, because they come from the French. A nurse's aide is someone who assists a nurse. An aide-de-camp is a close assistant and confidant to a military officer, a word often shortened to just aide, to refer to an assistant to a political official.
Vocabulary lists containing aid
Giving Words
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The Syrian Refugee Crisis Continues
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Egeland said the NRC was forced to lay off "female aid workers and female teachers on the primary school level for girls because we don't have enough money".
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The biggest reason: a 529 plan is a state-sponsored college tuition account, so your mother’s gift won’t count against her grandchildren when applying for financial aid.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
They were given first aid before being taken to Nandankanan Zoological Park in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, where they are in quarantine and being monitored.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
As Mr. Castro tried to arrest him in a yard, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man came to aid the escape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
She was trying to appease the other woman, who kept screaming until the soldiers who were stationed at the marketplace came to her aid.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
To support this future research, the team seeks long-term, open-access AID datasets that include a wide range of sensor measurements of possible factors and a diverse cohort of people with T1D.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024
AID official, was in East Africa to pledge aid to help the region’s fight against hunger amid a devastating multi-year drought.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
The AID provides a different perspective from those of other commonly used metrics.
From Nature ● Apr. 14, 2020
By midmorning, a line snaked out the door of AID Atlanta’s Midtown clinic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2019
“Can you believe they even gave her that AID virus and injected her into monkeys?”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
For example, every November, Will Aid, external works with solicitors who volunteer their time and waive their fee for writing a basic will.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
The account was relayed by the organization Whistleblower Aid, which said it represents the anonymous whistleblower.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
"The apparently sloppy and rushed manner in which the federal ballot mail portal and supporting IT systems are being built poses significant risk," said the official, who is represented by the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
To find out what you’re eligible for, fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Carmine’s story has been written by his son, who clearly did lots of research, even making the pilgrimage to New York to scour the records of the Children’s Aid Society.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
EssilorLuxottica has also branched into hearing correction, with its Nuance Audio integrating hearing aids into eyeglasses frames.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Specimens came to be used as teaching aids at universities or by research institutes.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
While traditional Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids, some Medical Advantage and Medigap plans do, Rodriguez said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
"This lab was set up to help us engineer our communication aids," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
He huffs around and doesn’t wear his hearing aids on purpose.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
The first leg of yen strength was driven by a BoJ rate hike and a round of government intervention aided by the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Moniava is also the founder of a charitable fund for sick children that until recently aided Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Don’t Say Good Luck” is predictable but undeniably sweet, aided by a star-making turn by Sandler, who’s already miles past her father in terms of quality Netflix originals.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
The birth-control campaign was designed to control the territory's population, which had ballooned since the 1950s, aided by modernisation and better healthcare.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
The two women set up a studio there, aided by elder daughter Johanna, who soon afterward headed to Surinam herself.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Foreign experts, including from China, India and South Korea, are aiding Nepali teams in rescue efforts.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Increasingly popular in Europe and the UK, the company's budget-friendly, tech-focused cars come together at the Hangzhou factory with robots aiding the process at every step.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
This supports a higher resting energy expenditure, aiding long-term weight maintenance.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
Pronto envisions unmanned tanks aiding firefighters in other former battlegrounds such as Syria and—eventually—Ukraine, part of an array of devices aiding firefighting in hazardous terrain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The spectacular courtship displays of the cocks help loosen the soil beneath and around the sage, aiding invasion by grasses which grow in the shelter of sagebrush.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
