- present participle of help.
helping
Americannoun
-
helpings
plural
-
the act of a person or thing that helps.
-
a portion of food served to a person at one time.
That's his third helping of ice cream.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of helping
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; see origin at help, -ing 1, -ing 2
Vocabulary lists containing helping
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:
The home secretary will say the UK wants to "live up to our international obligations" by helping those who are fleeing war and persecution, but the process must be "capped and controlled".
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Cyclist Brandon McNulty made a career out of helping other people win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Treasury yields continued to lurch higher — helping to put more pressure on stocks, which struggled during the first trading session of the week.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Months after helping the Patriots to a surprise Super Bowl appearance, the third-year player and two-time Pro Bowl selection is not playing close to the standard he established last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
I can’t imagine him helping a surly teenager—other than Andre, that is—with homework.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
The gags are counterbalanced by generous helpings of schmaltz, with much talk of the power of the feminine and how sisterhood defeats all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Over glasses of tea and helpings of baklava, I ask if he and his family would move back.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
Those are solid results, considering the funds’ big helpings of bonds—the safety-first shock absorbers that make up a big part of their appeal to cautious investors.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2025
Large helpings of camp and melodrama propel grisly tales of ghoulish behavior.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
They sat around a rickety card table and ate, with many helpings of ketchup and mustard.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
