auxiliary

[ awg-zil-yuh-ree, -zil-uh- ]

/ ɔgˈzɪl yə ri, -ˈzɪl ə- /

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adjective

additional; supplementary; reserve: an auxiliary police force.

used as a substitute or reserve in case of need: The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of a blackout.

(of a boat) having an engine that can be used to supplement the sails: an auxiliary yawl.

giving support; serving as an aid; helpful: The mind and emotions are auxiliary to each other. Passion is auxiliary to art.

noun, plural aux·il·ia·ries.

a person or thing that gives aid of any kind; helper.

an organization allied with, but subsidiary to, a main body of restricted membership, especially one composed of members' relatives: The men's club and the ladies' auxiliary were merged into one organization.

auxiliary verb.

auxiliaries, foreign troops in the service of a nation at war.

Navy. a naval vessel designed for other than combat purposes, as a tug, supply ship, or transport.

Nautical. a sailing vessel carrying an auxiliary propulsion engine or engines.

OTHER WORDS FOR auxiliary

2 backup, ancillary, secondary.

5 aide, ally, assistant; help.

See synonyms for auxiliary on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of auxiliary

1595–1605; <Latin auxiliārius assisting, aiding, helping, equivalent to auxili(um) aid, help (aux(us) increased, augmented (past participle of augēre: aug- increase + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix) + -ilium noun suffix) + -ārius-ary

Words nearby auxiliary

Aux Cayes, Auxerre, auxesis, auxetic, auxiliaries, auxiliary, auxiliary language, auxiliary note, auxiliary power unit, auxiliary rafter, auxiliary rotor

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

How to use auxiliary in a sentence

Yet their ability to create layups and open threes in transition helps keep auxiliary scoring options involved, and both are capable of drawing double teams and finding the open man.
So much for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving needing time to jell. The Nets have come out firing.|Ben Golliver|December 26, 2020|Washington Post
The app would help enrol and deploy the 154,000 auxiliary nurse midwives for delivering the vaccine, according to the health ministry’s plan.
India’s app for Covid-19 vaccine delivery must avoid the government’s legacy of privacy issues|Manavi Kapur|December 15, 2020|Quartz
For the Great American Beer Festival, which regularly draws 60,000 people to Denver, organizers pivoted to a virtual event this year after their usual home was designated an auxiliary field hospital.
How major conventions like SXSW and CES are working around the extended pandemic timeline|Chris Morris|October 10, 2020|Fortune
The former auxiliaries are now fully fleshed-out character brands and the marketing cornerstones of billion-dollar franchises.
For Aspiring Performers, The NBA Is The Best Place To Be A Mascot|Josh Planos|July 17, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

Context has always been an auxiliary marketing tool – creating demand, brand, remarketing.
Marketing strategies during COVID-19 times|Evelina Brown|July 13, 2020|Search Engine Watch
We retooled music, which sounds sort of small and auxiliary, but I think we figured out a way to help the audience.
‘Michael J. Fox Show’ Creator: We’re Not Canceled…Yet|Kevin Fallon|February 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
None of this will be easily accomplished, and America has only an auxiliary role.
How the U.S. Will Lose Egypt|Geoffrey Wawro|January 31, 2011|DAILY BEAST
General Monet operated in the north against the rebels with Spanish and native auxiliary forces.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The stars were auxiliary lights, and had all been specially, and at the same time, created for the good of man.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
In Preston we have three churches, besides an auxiliary chapel, wherein priests of the Jesuit order labour.
Our Churches and Chapels|Atticus
She behaved nobly, but with her small auxiliary steam power she could scarcely hold her own.
The British Expedition to the Crimea|William Howard Russell
For a very long period the schools in connection with St. Mary's have formed an excellent auxiliary of the church.
Our Churches and Chapels|Atticus

British Dictionary definitions for auxiliary

auxiliary

/ (ɔːɡˈzɪljərɪ, -ˈzɪlə-) /

adjective

secondary or supplementary

supporting

nautical (of a sailing vessel) having an enginean auxiliary sloop

noun plural -ries

a person or thing that supports or supplements; subordinate or assistant

nautical

a sailing vessel with an engine
the engine of such a vessel

navy a vessel such as a tug, hospital ship, etc, not used for combat

Word Origin for auxiliary

C17: from Latin auxiliārius bringing aid, from auxilium help, from augēre to increase, enlarge, strengthen

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

auxiliary

OTHER WORDS FOR auxiliary

Origin of auxiliary

Words nearby auxiliary

Words related to auxiliary

How to use auxiliary in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for auxiliary

Word Origin for auxiliary