aide
Americannoun
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an assistant or helper, especially a paid employee.
Years ago, my mom was a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom.
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During the war she worked as an aide in a field hospital, changing bedpans and cleaning floors.
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an assistant or advisor to a public figure, especially one who works for a person in public office.
He is a journalist and former White House aide.
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The agency just called to say my mom's aide didn't show up this morning.
noun
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an assistant
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social welfare an unqualified assistant to a professional welfare worker
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short for aide-de-camp
Commonly Confused
See aid.
Etymology
Origin of aide
An Americanism first recorded in 1770–80; from French: literally, “helper”; aid
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.
Loera-Zarco worked as a student aide with the Pomona Unified School District, supporting children on the autism spectrum, according to Trejo.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
The summary of the U.N. report said that Khan’s approaches to the aide allegedly began in March 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
The aide said the home-boost provision is “part of the bill’s design to ensure housing ends up in the hands of people eventually.”
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
“All the boys have them,” one female White House aide told the Journal, while another joked that “it’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them.”
From Slate • Mar. 14, 2026
Her sister Emily Winston received a citation from President Roosevelt, thanking her for more than one thousand hours of meritorious service as a nurse’s aide during the war.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
