Words nearby help
helophyte, helot, helotism, helotomy, helotry, help, help oneself, help out, help screens, helper, helper cell
Idioms for help
Origin of help
before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen
SYNONYMS FOR help
1 encourage, befriend; support, second, uphold, back, abet. Help, aid, assist, succor agree in the idea of furnishing another with something needed, especially when the need comes at a particular time. Help implies furnishing anything that furthers one's efforts or relieves one's wants or necessities. Aid and assist, somewhat more formal, imply especially a furthering or seconding of another's efforts. Aid implies a more active helping; assist implies less need and less help. To succor, still more formal and literary, is to give timely help and relief in difficulty or distress: Succor him in his hour of need.
3 further, promote, foster.
6 ameliorate.
7 alleviate, cure, heal.
12 support, backing.
OTHER WORDS FROM help
usage note for help
21. Help but, in sentences like She's so clever you can't help but admire her, has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot help admiring her, but the idiom is common in all kinds of speech and writing and can only be characterized as standard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for help
British Dictionary definitions for help
help
/ (hɛlp) /
verb
noun
interjection
used to ask for assistance
See also help out
Derived forms of help
helpable, adjectivehelper, nounWord Origin for help
Old English helpan; related to Old Norse hjalpa, Gothic hilpan, Old High German helfan
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
Idioms and Phrases with help
help
In addition to the idioms beginning with help
- helping hand
- help oneself
- help out
also see:
- can't help but
- every little bit helps
- not if one can help it
- so help me
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.