aid

[ eyd ]

/ eɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aid ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to provide support for or relief to; help: to aid the homeless victims of the fire.

to promote the progress or accomplishment of; facilitate.

verb (used without object)

to give help or assistance.

noun

help or support; assistance.

a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.

aids, Manège.

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 by means of which a rider increases control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.

aide-de-camp.

foreign aid.

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.

Nearby words

ai, aia, aiaw, aicc, aiche, aid, aid climbing, aid station, aid-de-camp, aida, aidan

Origin of aid

1375–1425; (noun) late Middle English ayde < Anglo-French, Old French aide, noun derivative of aid(i)er < Latin adjūtāre to help (frequentative of adjuvāre), equivalent to ad- ad- + -jū- help + -t- frequentative suffix + -āre infinitive suffix; (v.) < Anglo-French, Old French aid(i)er < Latin, as above

SYNONYMS FOR aid

1 See help.

2 abet, back, foster, advance.

4 succor; relief; subsidy, grant.

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ANTONYMS FOR aid

2 hinder, frustrate.

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Related forms

aid·er, nounaid·ful, adjectiveaid·less, adjectiveun·aid·ed, adjective

un·aid·ed·ly, adverbun·aid·ing, adjective

Can be confused

aid aide (see usage note at the current entry)aides aids AIDS

Usage note

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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for aided

By one account, it aided U.S. troops in capturing or killing at least ten of those senior leaders from the battlefield.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine|Shane Harris|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Super PACs have aided both candidates, but Grimes has less dark-money support than McConnell.
Mystery Man Buys Kentucky for the GOP|Center for Public Integrity|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Aided by care, heroic health care workers, and—in some cases—experimental drugs, all three survived.
Ebola Panic Is Worse Than the Disease|Abby Haglage|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He believed the more you aided Israel militarily, the more flexible they would be diplomatically.
Some of Israel’s Top Defenders Say It’s Time to End U.S. Aid|Eli Lake|July 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

CSI not only aided a not-guilty verdict, but netted Dr. Phil an admirer.
It’s Time to Turn Off TV Doctors|April Siese|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Only the unbroken coverlet of snow (it had fallen that morning) aided them to see about the empty fields.
Hiram The Young Farmer|Burbank L. Todd
The very weight of accumulating strata may either have aided or actually caused the sinking of the long, relatively narrow trough.
Geology|William J. Miller
The spores are aided in their discharge and dissemination by four club-shaped threads attached to one part of them.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray
Two vigorous oarsmen pulled till the blades bent, and the boat, aided by the stream, flew through the water.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 62, No. 384, October 1847|Various
All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in replenishing our constantly wasting stores.
The houseboat book|William F. Waugh

British Dictionary definitions for aided (1 of 3)

Aid

-aid

n combining form

denoting a charitable organization or function that raises money for a causeBand Aid; Ferryaid

British Dictionary definitions for aided (2 of 3)

AID

abbreviation for

acute infectious disease

artificial insemination (by) donor: former name for Donor Insemination (DI)

British Dictionary definitions for aided (3 of 3)

aid

/ (eɪd) /

verb

to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist

(tr) to assist financially

noun

assistance; help; support

a person, device, etc, that helps or assistsa 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

in aid of British informal in support of; for the purpose of

Derived Forms

aider, noun

Word Origin for aid

C15: via Old French aidier from Latin adjūtāre to help, from juvāre to help

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

Medicine definitions for aided

AID

abbr.

artificial insemination donor