help

v., helped, help·ing, helps.

v.tr.

1. To give assistance to; aid: I helped her find the book. He helped me into my coat.
2. To contribute to the furtherance of; promote.
3. To give relief to: help the needy.
4. To ease; relieve: medication to help your cold.
5. To change for the better; improve: A fresh coat of paint will help a scarred old table.
6. To refrain from; avoid or resist. Used with can or cannot: couldn't help laughing.
7. To wait on, as in a store or restaurant.

v.intr.
To be of service; give assistance.

n.

1. 1. The act or an instance of helping.
   2. Aid or assistance.
2. Relief; remedy.
3. One that helps: You've been a great help. A food processor is a help to the serious cook.
4. A person employed to help, especially a farm worker or domestic servant.
   1. Such employees considered as a group. Often used with the.

idiom:

help (oneself) to

1. To serve or provide oneself with: Help yourself to the cookies.
2. InformalTo take (something) without asking permission:The thief helped himself to our family silver. To take (something) without asking permission: The thief helped himself to our family silver.

[Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan.]

SYNONYMS   help, aid, assist, succor. These verbs mean to contribute to the fulfillment of a need, the furtherance of an effort, or the achievement of a purpose or end. Help and aid, the most general, are frequently interchangeable: a medication that helps the digestion. Help, however, sometimes conveys a stronger suggestion of effectual action: I'll help you move the piano. Assist usually implies making a secondary contribution or acting as a subordinate: Apprentices assisted the chef in preparing the banquet. Succor refers to going to the relief of one in want, difficulty, or distress: "Mr. Harding thought . . . of the worn-out, aged men he had succored" (Anthony Trollope). See also synonyms at improve.

USAGE NOTE   Many people commonly use help in the sense conveyed in the sentence Don't change it any more than you can help (that is, "any more than you have to"). Some grammarians condemn this usage on the grounds that help in this sense means "avoid" and therefore logically requires a negative. But the expression is a well-established idiom. See Usage Notes at cannot.

On-screen instruction regarding the use of a program. There is always a Help menu in today's operating systems and applications. On Windows PCs, pressing F1 is the de facto standard for getting help. See context sensitive help.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

verb

1. To give support or assistance. abet, aid, assist, boost, relieve, succor. Idioms: givelenda hand, give a leg up. See help/harm/harmless.
2. To advance to a more desirable state: ameliorate, amend, better¹, improve, meliorate, upgrade. See help/harm/harmless.

noun

1. The act or an instance of helping: abetment, aid, assist, assistance, hand, relief, succor, support. See help/harm/harmless.
2. A person who helps: abettor, aid, attendant, helper, reliever, succorer. See help/harm/harmless.

Idioms beginning with help:
help out

See also can't help but; every little bit helps; not if one can help it; so help me.

---

n

Definition: assistance, relief
Antonyms: blockage, check, counteraction, harm, hindrance, hurt, injury, obstruction, stop

n

Definition: employee
Antonyms: management, manager, ownership

v

Definition: aid, assist
Antonyms: block, check, counteract, harm, hinder, hurt, injure, obstruct, stop

v

Definition: improve
Antonyms: aggravate, decrease, harm, hinder, hurt, injure, worsen

---

IN BRIEF: To aid or assist. Also: To keep from.

The only way to help yourself is to help others. — Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - hjælpe, lindre
v. intr. - hjælpe på, forhindre, forsyne
n. - hjælp
int. - hjælp!

idioms:

• cannot help but    kan ikke lade være med
• cannot help yourself    kan ikke dy sig
• help off with    hjælpe af med
• help on with    hjælpe på vej med
• help oneself    tage selv, forsyne sig
• help out    hjælpe ud, træde til
• helping hand    håndsrækning
• So help me    på æresord

Nederlands (Dutch)
helpen, bevorderen, ergens buiten kunnen, bedienen, helpen aan, baten, redden, verhelpen, voorkómen, hulp, bijstand, helper, toeverlaat, huishoudelijk personeel, remedie, handreiking, steun, help!

Français (French)
v. tr. - aider, secourir, améliorer (qch), contribuer (à faire), offrir (qch) à qn, empêcher, changer, faire exprès
v. intr. - aider, arranger, servir à
n. - aide, secours, femme de ménage, domestiques, ouvriers agricoles
int. - au secours (excl)

idioms:

• cannot help but    ne pas pouvoir s'empêcher de
• cannot help oneself    ne pas pouvoir s'empêcher
• help off with    aider à enlever (un vêtement)
• help on with    aider à mettre (un vêtement)
• help oneself    se servir
• help out    venir en aide, donner un coup de main à, dépanner, tirer (qn) d'embarras
• helping hand    secours, donner un coup de main à qn
• So help me    je le jure, Aide-moi, je dis la vérité

Deutsch (German)
v. - helfen
n. - Hilfe
int. - Hilfe!

idioms:

• cannot help but    kann nicht umhin
• cannot help oneself    nicht vermeiden können, daß jd. etwas macht
• help off with    jmdm. in/aus etwas helfen
• help on with    jmdm. in/aus etwas helfen
• help oneself    sich selbst helfen
• help out    aushelfen
• helping hand    Hilfe
• So help me    so wahr mir Gott helfe

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - βοηθώ, συντρέχω, σερβίρω, ενισχύω, αποφεύγω, εμποδίζω
n. - βοήθεια, αρωγή, συνδρομή, παραδουλεύτρα, οικιακή βοηθός, θεραπεία
int. - Βοήθεια!

idioms:

• cannot help but    δεν μπορώ να μην
• cannot help yourself    δεν μπορείς να μην αντιδράσεις
• help off with    βοηθώ να βγάλει
• help on with    βοηθώ να βάλει
• help oneself    σερβιρίζομαι, παίρνω χωρίς να ζητήσω άδεια
• help out    βοηθώ κάποιον να βγει (από δυσκολία κ.λπ.), συντρέχω κάποιον (ώστε να ξεπεράσει...)
• helping hand    χείρα βοηθείας
• So help me    μάρτυς μου ο Θεός!

Italiano (Italian)
aiutare, servire, procurare, aiuto, aiuto!

idioms:

• cannot help but    non poter evitare di
• cannot help yourself    non riuscire a trattenersi
• help off/on with    aiutare a togliersi/mettersi
• help oneself    cavarsi d'impiccio
• help out    dare una mano
• helping hand    una mano
• So help me!    lo giuro!

Português (Portuguese)
v. - socorrer, evitar, ajudar, servir-se
n. - ajuda (f), socorro (m), serviço (m)
int. - Socorro!

idioms:

• cannot help but    tenho que
• cannot help yourself    não pode deixar (hábito)
• help off/on with    ajudar a partir/a seguir com
• help oneself    servir-se
• help out    ajudar em um esforço
• helping hand    assistência (f)
• So help me!    Deus me ajude!

Русский (Russian)
помогать, способствовать, обслуживать, облегчать, угощать, помощь, помощник, работник, слуга, средство, спасение

idioms:

• cannot help but    не мог не
• cannot help yourself    невозможно удержать себя
• help off/on with    помочь снять/одеть
• help oneself    угощаться
• help out    выручить
• helping hand    помощь
• So help me!    Так помоги мне!

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - ayudar, asistir, socorrer, servir, facilitar, procurar, aprovechar, valer, evitar, aliviar, prevenir
v. intr. - ayudar, asistir, socorrer, no ser capaz de abstenerse
n. - ayuda, auxilio, socorro, remedio, criado, empleado
int. - ¡socorro!, auxilio

idioms:

• cannot help but    no se puede menos de, no se puede evitar
• cannot help oneself    uno no se puede contener
• help off with    ayudar a sacarse una prenda
• help on with    ayudar a ponerse una prenda
• help oneself    servirse uno mismo
• help out    ayudar, echar una mano
• helping hand    dar una mano, ayuda, asistencia
• So help me    y que tenga fuerzas para, y que pueda

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - hjälpa, låta bli, servera
n. - hjälp
int. - hjälp!

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
帮助, 接济, 助长, 有用, 招待, 救命, 有帮助的人, 有助益的东西, 帮手, 助手, 救命啊!

idioms:

• cannot help but    不得不
• cannot help yourself    不禁...
• help off with    帮...脱去
• help on with    帮...穿上
• help oneself    自助, 不用客气
• help out    帮助...解决困难, 帮忙完成
• helping hand    帮助, 支持
• So help me    我对天发誓, 上天做证

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 幫助, 接濟, 助長
v. intr. - 有用, 招待, 救命
n. - 幫助, 有幫助的人, 有助益的東西, 幫手, 助手
int. - 救命啊!

idioms:

• cannot help but    不得不
• cannot help yourself    不禁...
• help off with    幫...脫去
• help on with    幫...穿上
• help oneself    自助, 不用客氣
• help out    幫助...解決困難, 幫忙完成
• helping hand    幫助, 支持
• So help me    我對天發誓, 上天做證

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 돕다, 완화하다, 식사 시중을 들다
v. intr. - 돕다, 도움이 되다, 음식을 차리다
n. - 도움, 구제책, 고용인, 한 사람 몫
int. - 도와주세요!

idioms:

• help off with    ~을 도와서 ~을 벗기다, ~을 제거하는 것을 돕다
• help on with    도와서 ~를 입혀주다
• help oneself    자기 스스로 어떻게 해 보다, 자기 스스로를 누르다
• help out    구출하다, 보충하다, 도와서 완성시키다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 手伝う, 助ける, 救う, 盛る, 取り分けてやる, 役立つ, 効く, 援助する, 配る, 勧める, よそう, 避ける
n. - 助け, 援助, 助力, 救助, 役立つもの, 救済法, 逃げ道, 手伝い, 雇い人

idioms:

• cannot help but    せざるを得ない
• cannot help yourself    仕方がない
• help off/on with    着るのを手伝う
• help oneself    自分で取って食べる
• help out    手伝って出してやる, 援助する
• so help me    神に誓って

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يساعد, يعاون, يشفي, يفيد, يعزز, يقوي, يصلح, يتمالك نفسه عن, يمنع, يحول دون, يكون ذا جدوى (الاسم) مساعدة, عون, مصدر عون, علاج, المساعد, العامل, المستخدم, خدمات العامل المستأجر, حصه من الطعام على المائدة (نداء) النجدة !‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮עזר, סייע, ריפא, תיקן, הגיש, הקל על‬
v. intr. - ‮עזר, סייע, נמנע מ-‬
n. - ‮עזרה, סיוע, תועלת, עוזרת, עוזר, סגל משרתים‬
int. - ‮קריאה לעזרה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.

help	Help Kid Line
Help To Stop Smoking	help hook up for hp