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helping verb

American  

noun

  1. auxiliary verb.

Etymology

Origin of helping verb

First recorded in 1815–25

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Example Sentences

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Have has also been reckoned as an auxiliary by the "helping verb grammars," which has no other duty to perform than help conjugate other verbs thro some of their moods and tenses.

From Lectures on Language As Particularly Connected with English Grammar. by Balch, William Stevens

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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