aid
verb (used with object)
to provide support for or relief to; help.
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aid
1 American
[eyd]
/ eɪd /
verb (used with object)
-
aids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aided,
past participle, past
-
aiding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
aids,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aided,
past participle, past
-
aiding
present participle
noun
-
aids
plural
-
help or support; assistance.
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a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.
-
Manège. aids,
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Also called natural aids. the means by which a rider communicates with and controls a horse, as the hands, legs, voice, and shifts in weight.
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Also called artificial aids. the devices used by a rider to increase control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.
-
-
a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.
-
English History. (after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions.
AID
2
American
[eyd]
/ eɪd /
noun
U.S. Government.
AID
3
American
abbreviation
-
American Institute of Decorators.
-
American Institute of Interior Designers.
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British. artificial insemination donor. Also A.I.D.
aid
1
British
/ eɪd /
verb
-
to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist
-
(tr) to assist financially
noun
-
assistance; help; support
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a person, device, etc, that helps or assists
a teaching aid
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Also: artificial aid. mountaineering any of various devices such as piton or nut when used as a direct help in the ascent
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(in medieval Europe; in England after 1066) a feudal payment made to the king or any lord by his vassals, usually on certain occasions such as the marriage of a daughter or the knighting of an eldest son
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informal in support of; for the purpose of
AID
2
British
abbreviation
-
acute infectious disease
-
artificial insemination (by) donor: former name for Donor Insemination (DI)
Aid
3
British
combining form
Commonly Confused
Although the nouns aid and aide both have among their meanings “an assisting person,” the spelling aide is increasingly used for the sense “helper, assistant”: One of the senator's aides is calling. Aide in military use is short for aide-de-camp. It is also the spelling in nurse's aide.
Synonym Usage
See help.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
aidsimple
-
aidssimple
-
have aidedperfect
-
has aidedperfect
-
am aidingprogressive
-
are aidingprogressive
-
is aidingprogressive
-
have been aidingperfect progressive
-
has been aidingperfect progressive
Past
-
aidedsimple
-
had aidedperfect
-
was aidingprogressive
-
were aidingprogressive
-
had been aidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of aid1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English noun aide, eide, from Anglo-French, Old French aide, derivative of verb aid(i)er, from Latin adjūtāre “to help”; see also adjuvant ( def. )
Origin of AID2
A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)
Explanation
Aid is what you do when you help someone — you come to their aid. Rich countries provide economic aid to poor countries, and if you cut your hand, you'll be looking in the first aid kit for a Band-Aid. You can also use aid as a verb: "The librarian will aid you in your search." English has some words with meanings related to aid, but they're spelled with an -e on the end, because they come from the French. A nurse's aide is someone who assists a nurse. An aide-de-camp is a close assistant and confidant to a military officer, a word often shortened to just aide, to refer to an assistant to a political official.
Vocabulary lists containing aid
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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:
He also thanked the US for $26.5 million in aid and the support of its rescue teams, as well as Israel for sending humanitarian assistance and rescuers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said preparations were underway to bring aid to some 2,000 people in temporary shelters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
"I really cannot explain how going up to a shark and touching it or riding it is doing anything to aid conservation," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
She launched a nonprofit group to channel humanitarian aid to soldiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Her family rushed to her aid, to keep her from pitching over in that space between the rail and the lifeboat.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
"Deploying Artificial Intelligence in Services to AID Vulnerable Consumers" is published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 2024
AID official, was in East Africa to pledge aid to help the region’s fight against hunger amid a devastating multi-year drought.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
Percentages of employees asking for exemptions also vary, from 10.2 percent at the Department of Veterans Affairs to 1.3 percent at AID and the State Department.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2021
As access to schooling expands, inequality as measured by the AID rises because the population now contains many people who have no education and many who have several years of schooling.
From Nature ● Apr. 14, 2020
“Can you believe they even gave her that AID virus and injected her into monkeys?”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Women's Aid, the national charity aiming to end domestic abuse, is calling for more forewarning of alerts wherever possible.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
There may be something similar with Judge Montgomery-Reeves: She worked closely with the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights project for several years, and I think that may have imparted a civil libertarian streak.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
The Office of Federal Student Aid argues that a high nonpayment rate represents a “serious risk” of developing a high default rate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Patients must meet three conditions to qualify for Medical Aid in Dying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“I get my paycheck at Rite Aid tomorrow, and I’ll stop by the grocery store and pick up some food after work.”
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
The publication dinged the compact SUV for its lack of driving aids.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Specimens came to be used as teaching aids at universities or by research institutes.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Services that "do not involve ongoing emotional interaction" such as customer service, work assistants or study aids are not subject to the measures.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
While traditional Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids, some Medical Advantage and Medigap plans do, Rodriguez said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
With her limbs free and her hearing aids in, I fully expect her to go after Benefo.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Local firefighters aided by colleagues deployed from the capital, Bogotá, and the disaster response team of the national police force had to dig two tunnels to reach her.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
This is despite the company’s 2Q results coming in slightly ahead of expectations, aided by the acquisition of online audio platform Ximalaya, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Friday to the 11000 block of Villa Hermosa in response to a “mental health episode” and were aided by a clinical therapist from the Community Behavioral Assessment Team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Climate change and environmental disturbance have aided an increasing creep of the territories ticks inhabit—along with the viruses, bacteria, and pathogens they carry.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
You have aided in thwarting me; now you shall come to my call.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Two days after the blaze at Lineage Logistics’ cold storage facility ignited on June 17, Robb began working for the company, aiding with communications consulting, he confirmed to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Although this latest trial has shown it is superior for controlling blood sugar and aiding weight loss, its higher rate of side-effects and treatment discontinuation may temper enthusiasm.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
A third factor aiding the Americans, perversely, was the capture of Gen. Charles Lee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
For one — and “most critical historically,” according to Deutsche Bank — the U.S. benefited from 200 years of institutional and political stability that helped shore up confidence in its capital markets, aiding economic growth.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 28, 2026
Cleopatra was accused of aiding the Republicans in the conflict between Caesar’s assassins and the Caesarians led by Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
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.
