help
Americanverb (used with object)
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helps,
present (3rd person singular)
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helped,
past participle, past
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helping
present participle
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to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist.
He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.
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to save; rescue; succor.
Help me, I'm falling!
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to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate.
The exercise of restraint is certain to help the achievement of peace.
- Antonyms:
- hinder
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to be useful or profitable to.
Her quick mind helped her career.
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to refrain from; avoid (usually preceded by can orcannot ).
He can't help doing it.
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to relieve or break the uniformity of.
Small patches of bright color can help an otherwise dull interior.
- Synonyms:
- ameliorate
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to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.
- Antonyms:
- afflict
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to remedy, stop, or prevent.
Nothing will help my headache.
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to serve food to at table (usually followed byto ).
Help her to salad.
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to serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.
verb (used without object)
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helps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
helped,
past participle, past
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helping
present participle
noun
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help
plural
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the act of helping; aid or assistance; relief or succor.
-
a person or thing that helps.
She certainly is a help in an emergency.
- Antonyms:
- hindrance
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a body of such helpers.
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a domestic servant or a farm laborer.
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means of remedying, stopping, or preventing.
The thing is done, and there is no help for it now.
-
Older Use. helping.
interjection
verb phrase
idioms
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help oneself to,
-
to serve oneself; take a portion of.
Help yourself to the cake.
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to take or use without asking permission; appropriate.
They helped themselves to the farmer's apples. Help yourself to any of the books we're giving away.
-
-
so help me, (used as a mild form of the oath “so help me God”) I am speaking the truth; on my honor.
That's exactly what happened, so help me.
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cannot / can't help but, to be unable to refrain from or avoid; be obliged to.
Still, you can't help but admire her.
verb
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to assist or aid (someone to do something), esp by sharing the work, cost, or burden of something
he helped his friend to escape
she helped him climb out of the boat
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to alleviate the burden of (someone else) by giving assistance
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(tr) to assist (a person) to go in a specified direction
help the old lady up from the chair
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to promote or contribute to
to help the relief operations
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to cause improvement in (a situation, person, etc)
crying won't help
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(tr; preceded by can, could, etc; usually used with a negative)
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to avoid or refrain from
we can't help wondering who he is
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(usually foll by it) to prevent or be responsible for
I can't help it if it rains
-
-
to alleviate (an illness, etc)
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(tr) to serve (a customer)
can I help you, madam?
-
-
to serve (someone with food, etc) (usually in the phrase help oneself )
may I help you to some more vegetables?
help yourself to peas
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to provide (oneself with) without permission
he's been helping himself to money out of the petty cash
-
-
to be unable to do anything else except
I cannot help but laugh
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to assist a person in the removal of (clothes)
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to assist a person in the putting on of (clothes)
-
-
on my honour
-
no matter what
so help me, I'll get revenge
-
noun
-
the act of helping, or being helped, or a person or thing that helps
she's a great help
-
a helping
-
-
a person hired for a job; employee, esp a farm worker or domestic servant
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(functioning as singular) several employees collectively
-
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a means of remedy
there's no help for it
interjection
Usage
Cannot/can't help but has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot/can’t help followed by the present participle: You can’t help but admire her. You can’t help admiring her. However, the idiom Cannot/can't help but is so common in all types of speech and writing that it must be characterized as standard.
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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helpernoun
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underhelpnoun
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helpableadjective
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unhelpableadjective
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unhelpedadjective
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well-helpedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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helpsimple
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helpssimple
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have helpedperfect
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has helpedperfect
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am helpingprogressive
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are helpingprogressive
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is helpingprogressive
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have been helpingperfect progressive
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has been helpingperfect progressive
Past
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helpedsimple
-
had helpedperfect
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was helpingprogressive
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were helpingprogressive
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had been helpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of help
First recorded before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen
Explanation
The verb help means to give aid or assistance to. You can help your friend organize a car wash at school by making posters and putting them up all over town. Help can also mean to serve food or drink––as in, "Help yourself!" But don't serve yourself too much or there won't be enough for a second helping. One last meaning for help is the people hired to provide domestic services in a home. A nanny, a housekeeper, a gardener are often referred to somewhat derisively as "the help," because their job is helping the family.
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.
See Examples For:
Trendforce, a research firm, said China’s manufacturing advantage could help it whittle away at America’s lead, since it could deploy humanoids faster at scale.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
There is also evidence that reversing the accumulation can help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Pike's victim was Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old originally from Florida who loved to roller skate, smile and help others, according to descriptions given by her friends and family.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
For example, someone with a financial background could be a good fit for a contractor who needs help assembling project bids.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
They emerge when the bombings are over and rush to the bomb sites to help the wounded and pray for the dead and dying.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“Instead of simply building more expensive infrastructure and passing those costs on to ratepayers, SB 913 helps us get more out of the resources Californians have already paid for,” Becker said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Chewy and Neiman Marcus each block certain agents, according to Billions Network, a firm that helps companies verify humans and AI agents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"Every time somebody wants help here, he helps them. His nature is very good," Shah said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
"In simple terms, the lymphatic system helps keep your body's fluid levels balanced, cleans up waste, and supports your defences against illness," says van Tulleken.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
As if that helps makes sense of anything.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
It also arranged his credit card statements in a spreadsheet and helped him pursue his hobby of collecting ceramic bowls, a task which strikes me as having a fairly small community of potential users.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
He spent his own childhood in a house in Surrey filled with rescue animals and said it helped inspire the passion for wildlife that later shaped his career.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Tom Brady’s presence as a minority owner and influence in the front office helped too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
In return, it is alleged that Ethiopia has helped funnel arms to the UAE's allies in Sudan, though that is denied by both countries.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
I ran to him at once and helped him to his feet.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Portfolio rebalancing at the start of the new quarter may have steered some capital back into beaten-down Treasurys, helping fixed income catch a brief bid.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Dietrich was Hollywood’s greatest seductress, with conquests galore, male and female, but she was prouder of helping the war effort during World War II as a performer and war-bonds promoter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of helping the alliance.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Bass contends the project already is producing results, helping the city book major conventions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
He was back in the blue autumn dusk, helping Fa to pitch camp.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
