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.

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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

I have heard of that kind of thing before, but how is one to help oneself?

From Ayala's Angel by Trollope, Anthony

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)

To Adelheid von Schorn at Weimar Dear and honored One, When one is at a loss what to say or write, well—one tries to help oneself with music.

From Letters of Franz Liszt -- Volume 2 from Rome to the End by Bache, Constance

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

From Nobody by Warner, Susan