help or support; assistance.
a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.
Manège. aids,
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.
Also called artificial aids. the devices used by a rider to increase control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.
a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.
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.
American Institute of Decorators.
American Institute of Interior Designers.
British. artificial insemination donor. Also A.I.D.
to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist
(tr) to assist financially
assistance; help; support
a person, device, etc, that helps or assists
a teaching aid
Also: artificial aid. mountaineering any of various devices such as piton or nut when used as a direct help in the ascent
(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
informal in support of; for the purpose of
acute infectious disease
artificial insemination (by) donor: former name for Donor Insemination (DI)
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.
See help.
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. )
A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She said she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after a trip to the Mayo Clinic and underwent treatment and started taking medication to aid with her symptoms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The whistles and the mutual aid networks demonstrated that it did not.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The state also received hundreds of billions of federal Covid dollars in government aid, rental assistance, public transportation and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
His family took shelter on a beach in nearby Arcachon before a relative came to their aid with a place to stay.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
When she got back to her airfield with damage to both her shoulder and her leg, she let herself be given first aid but refused to go to the hospital.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
"Deploying Artificial Intelligence in Services to AID Vulnerable Consumers" is published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 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
As school enrolment becomes universal and members of the population begin to achieve similarly high levels of education, the AID declines again.
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
There may be something similar with Judge Montgomery-Reeves: She worked closely with the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights project for several years, and I think that may have imparted a civil libertarian streak.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Part of every ticket sale will go to Solace Women’s Aid, a British charity supporting women and children affected by domestic violence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
An unlikely coalition of supporters has lined up, from the libertarian Cato Institute to the Legal Aid Society to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Thirteen birds were discovered around Mill Road in Peel coated in an unknown orange substance and "smelling like fish oil", while "many more" had been spotted, Manx Wild Bird Aid said.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Even at the Children’s Aid Society, in my iron bed on the ward, I was surrounded by other girls.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
While traditional Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids, some Medical Advantage and Medigap plans do, Rodriguez said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The technology's adaptability to different kinds of problems sets it apart from previous waves of computerised aids.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Dan Stead, from the company, said its communication aids are a "lifeline for many people" so they needed to be as reliable as possible.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
When hearing loss in middle age drove him to rely on hearing aids, he credited the affliction with sharpening his awareness of the world around him—and enhancing his art.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
In the years since the aids virus emerged, the village of Kasensero has been devastated.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
After immigration agents began arresting people in courthouses, many immigrants grew wary of showing up for court proceedings, which has aided the increase in removal orders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The government delegation in Madrid said on X early Saturday that overnight conditions had "greatly aided the fight against the wildfires, which advanced little and decreased in intensity".
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Villa did not drop out of the top four after beating Leeds last November, aided by winning 12 of 13 top-flight games between September and December.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
In April, the company resumed share repurchases of up to $1.5 billion, aided by war-induced price rises which delivered a cash boost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
He tried to get up, and we all aided him.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
Two days after the blaze at Lineage Logistics’ cold storage facility ignited on June 17, Robb began working for the company, aiding with communications consulting, he confirmed to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Although this latest trial has shown it is superior for controlling blood sugar and aiding weight loss, its higher rate of side-effects and treatment discontinuation may temper enthusiasm.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
For one — and “most critical historically,” according to Deutsche Bank — the U.S. benefited from 200 years of institutional and political stability that helped shore up confidence in its capital markets, aiding economic growth.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 28, 2026
She denies five related charges of aiding and abetting.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
It is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept alive—Madam Mina aiding me.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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.
