help oneself

Idioms  

1. Make an effort on one's own behalf. Shakespeare used this expression in 2 Henry IV (3:2): “She is old, and cannot help herself,” and it also appears in the old proverb, God (or heaven ) helps those who help themselves . [First half of 1500s] Also see can't help .

2. Serve oneself, as in The food's in the kitchen; just help yourself . When it takes an object this phrase is put as help oneself to , as in I helped myself to more meat . It also is used as a euphemism for stealing, as in She simply helped herself to the hotel towels and left . The first usage dates from the late 1600s; the second, a colloquialism, from the mid-1800s.

---

Example Sentences

Would it be legal help oneself unilaterally to food on display at 10:59 p.m. in a pizzeria that closed at 11 p.m.?

From Slate • Jun. 21, 2023

Well, you don't like them; but, after all, it's the fashion, and one can't help oneself.

From Nobody by Warner, Susan

"You don't look to me much good for that job," said the Hare, "but in time of need one must help oneself as one can."

From The Junior Classics — Volume 8 Animal and Nature Stories by Patten, William

Altogether it was a difficult thing to ascertain or to move the will of the gods, and one must help oneself as best one could.

From The Greek View of Life by Dickinson, G. Lowes (Goldsworthy Lowes)

But to conclude therefrom the right to help oneself to the employer's goods, is a strange manner of reasoning, while it opens the door to all manner of injustice.

From Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals by Stapleton, John H. (John Henry)