aid

[ eyd ]

/ eɪd /

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verb (used with object)

to provide support for or relief to; help: to aid the 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 used by a rider to increase 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR aid

2 abet, back, foster, advance.

4 succor; relief; subsidy, grant.

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OPPOSITES FOR aid

2 hinder, frustrate.

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QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of aid

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

synonym study for aid

1. See help.

words often confused with aid

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.

OTHER WORDS FROM aid

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

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH aid

1. aid , aide (see usage note at the current entry)2. aides, aids , AIDS

Other definitions for aid (2 of 3)

AID¹

[ eyd ]

/ eɪd /

noun U.S. Government.

the division of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency that coordinates the various foreign aid programs with U.S. foreign policy: established in 1961.

Origin of AID

A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)

Other definitions for aid (3 of 3)

AID²

abbreviation

American Institute of Decorators.

American Institute of Interior Designers.

British. artificial insemination donor.Also A.I.D.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use aid in a sentence

More than half of respondents also reported needing and not receiving financial aid.
Global study finds pandemic exacerbates inequities for trans people|Kaela Roeder|November 20, 2020|Washington Blade
While there is broad consensus among most economists that more aid is needed—and soon—getting a deal passed in the lame-duck session before 2021 is looking like a tall order.
Will another $1,200 stimulus check ever come? Here’s what we know|Anne Sraders|November 11, 2020|Fortune
Use a rinse aid if you have hard water, and set the dishwasher on a non-heated drying cycle.
Hints From Heloise: Washing wine glasses|Heloise Heloise|November 11, 2020|Washington Post
The loan, which is part of the emergency airline aid package approved in March, allows Sun Country to receive federal assistance without having to tap big backers such as Amazon and Apollo for the additional help.
Treasury emergency aid loan goes to airline backed by Amazon and Apollo, showing government’s long reach|Yeganeh Torbati|November 10, 2020|Washington Post

In 2017, her department hit Amazon with a $294 million back-tax bill for its Luxembourg operations, on the basis that the company got a sweetheart deal from local tax authorities that amounted to illegal state aid.
Europe lays out Amazon antitrust charges, targeting its use of merchants’ data|David Meyer|November 10, 2020|Fortune
How culpable are sites like Facebook, Google, and Apple in aiding potential spying, and the loss of privacy?
Laura Poitras on Snowden's Unrevealed Secrets|Marlow Stern|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And then he was charged not with forcible rape, but with having sex with a prisoner and then aiding her escape.
Rape, Lies & Videotape in Ferguson|Michael Daly|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Our driver is a doctor who was held in detention for three years by U.S. forces on charges of aiding the Taliban.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One role the desert-dwelling Bedouin and Berbers would be perfectly suited to is aiding the army in its frontier patrols.
On the Contraband Trail With Libya’s Gun Smugglers|Peter Schwartzstein|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“This is aiding and abetting criminal activity,” charges campaign finance attorney Dan Backer, counsel for Stop Hillary.
Hillary’s SuperPAC War Proves Yet Again That Campaign Finance Needs a Fix|Michelle Cottle|January 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It would be at once a breach of that neutrality we profess to observe, and, in my opinion, an aiding of the worst cause.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham
One evening the closer personal friends of Edelstadt met to consider plans for aiding the sick poet.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
So far as this phase of evolution is concerned the influences aiding the mental development of man have lost their strength.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
Of this I am assured by John Poindexter, who seems very desirous of aiding me in my attempt to win his daughter's heart.
The Circular Study|Anna Katharine Green
All persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
Key-Notes of American Liberty|Various

British Dictionary definitions for aid (1 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 of aid

aider, noun

Word Origin for aid

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

British Dictionary definitions for aid (2 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 aid (3 of 3)

AID

abbreviation for

acute infectious disease

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

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