assistance
Americannoun
-
assistance
plural
noun
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help; support
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the act of assisting
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informal See national assistance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of assistance
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English assistence, from Medieval Latin assistentia; assist + -ance
Explanation
If you see a blind man having trouble crossing the street, offer him some assistance. Lending a hand is just one way of providing assistance. Assistance is a noun that means to help or aid. It's the noun form for the verb to assist. Homes for the elderly are sometimes called "assisted living facilities" because they provide assistance to older folks who might need assistance getting in and out of bed, or feeding themselves. If you're in a store and no one is helping you, call a manager and ask for assistance. However, if you like to shop, you probably won't need any assistance spending money.
Vocabulary lists containing assistance
List 5
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List 3
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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.
But the entire welfare state, from food benefits and Medicaid to disability and cash assistance, exists to help families with the lowest earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
For example, last May, Anthropic’s biological safety classifier blocked a request for Claude’s assistance in authoring a grant application for scientific funding.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
The newest leg will include additional stops across several locations including Los Angeles, where he will take over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on April 23 and 24 with some assistance from Kylie Minogue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
International aid to Afghanistan has dropped sharply, with the United Nations saying it had received less than 30 percent of the funding needed to provide life-saving assistance as of late August.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Would they come with him and render assistance to his friends, many of whom were lying trapped beneath the cart, crying out for help?
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
